
Class *5Y^ 

Book ^Xlh. 

Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



EARLY 
CHRISTIAN HYMNS 



EARLY 
CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

TRANSLATIONS OF THE VERSES OF THE 

MOST NOTABLE LATIN WRITERS OF 

THE EARLY AND MIDDLE AGES 



BY 

DANIEL JOSEPH DONAHOE 

Author of " Idyls of Israel" " A Tent by the Lake" " In' Sheltered Ways" 
" Th'e Rescue of the Princess," etc. 




s 
THE GRAFTON PRESS 

PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 



.1U 



jubhary of 0dNG>e«s5 

wo uooies nece«vc« 
S£P 16 WU8 

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Copyright, 1908 by 
THE GRAFTON PRESS 

IN THE UNITED STATES 
AND GREAT BRITAIN 



080163% 



PREFACE 

This volume may fairly be said to contain the best 
religious songs of all the ages of the Latin Church. The 
name of the work would indicate that only the earlier 
hymns were included; and that, indeed, was the in- 
tention of the author when the publication of the book 
was commenced. But as some of the hymns inserted 
in that treasure-house of spiritual song, the Roman 
Breviary, since the pontificate of Urban VIII. are ex- 
quisitely beautiful, both in poetry and religious feeling, 
it has been deemed best to make the work sufficiently 
complete to include practically all the hymns there 
found, both ancient and modern. 

Many of the hymns here translated were gleaned from 
the pages of the great works of Daniel, Mone and 
Wackernagel. A volume of Latin hymns published by 
Professor March of La Fayette College, will be found to 
contain a number of the most beautiful; but the chief 
source has been the Roman Breviary. And as that 
work is more easily obtained by the ordinary student, 
than the great collections above named, it has been 
thought advisable to note all hymns drawn from that 
source, so that the reader, who may desire to compare 
the translation with the original, will have little diffi- 
culty in doing so. 



VI PREFACE 

The attempt to turn these glorious songs of the Church 
into something fairly representative of the thought and 
feeling of the original has been a labor of love during 
the past four years. The translator has always been 
an ardent lover of the Latin hymns, but the idea of 
making English versions of them came about as if by 
accident. While reading the Veni Sancte Spiritus, 
the "golden sequence," as it has been called, one Sun- 
day afternoon in April, 1904, the words and melody of 
the hymn shaped themselves, as it were, into an Eng- 
lish form, without any apparent effort, a form which 
seemed to give an adequate representation of the orig- 
inal both in thought and feeling. 

Immediately upon the appearance of that poem in 
print, the author was urged by scholarly friends, both 
clerical and lay, lovers, like himself, of the fine old 
church songs, to try his hand at others, especially those 
used for liturgical purposes and found in the Breviary 
and Missal. The more of these translations that 
appeared, the more popular they seemed to become. 

The very act of translating afforded a singular pleas- 
ure and exhilaration of spirit. In a short time the 
number of English renderings on the author's hands 
became so great, and the requests of friends to collect 
them in a volume, so urgent, that the present work is 
the result. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ST. HILARY . 3 

A Hymn for the Penitent (Ad Coeli Clara) 5 

A Hymn for Pentecost (Beata Nobis Gaudia) 6 

A Morning Hymn (Deus Pater Ingenite) 8 

St. Hilary's Morning Hymn (Lucis Largitor Splendide) .... 9 

A Song of Dawn (Jam Meta Noctis Transiit) 10 

A Song of Dawn (Another Version) 11 

ST. DAMASUS 13 

Hymn to St. Agatha {Martyr is ecce dies Agathae) 15 

ST. AMBROSE 17 

Easter Hymn (Aurora Coelum Purpura!) 19 

The Truth of Truths (Tristes Erant Apostoli) 20 

The Resurrection (Paschale Mundo Gaudium) 21 

A Paschal Morning Hymn (Rex Sempiterne Coelitum) 22 

Vesper Hymn, for the Feast of a Martyr (Deus Tuorum Militum) 23 

Hymn for Lauds for the Feast of a Martyr (Invicte Martyr Unicum) 24 

An Early Morning Hymn (Jam Lucis Orto Sidera) 25 

A Hymn for Advent (Creator Alme Siderum) 26 

Hymn for Matins (Somno Refectis Artubus) 27 

A Hymn for Advent (En Clara Fox) 28 

Hymn for the Nativity of Our Lord (Jesu Redemptor Omnium) 29 

A Hymn for the Night Season (Nox Atra Rerum) 31 

Paschal Tide (Ad Regias Agni Dapes) 32 

Morning Hymn for Ascension Day (Aeterne Rex Altissime) 33 

Vesper Hymn for Ascension Day (Jesu Nostra Redemptio) ... 35 

Pentecost (Jam Christus Astra Ascenderat) 36 

O Splendour of the Father's Face (Splendor Paternae Gloriae) . . 37 

A Morning Hymn (Aeterna. Coeli Gloria) 39 

The Morning's Golden Radiance (Aurora Jam Spargit) ... 40 

Evening Hymn (Te Lucis Ante Terminum) 41 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Hymn for the Feast of a Virgin (Jesu, Corona Virginum) . . 42 

A Night Song (Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor) 43 

Hymn Before Daylight (Consors Paterni Luminis) 43 

Hymn for Early Morning (Summae Parens Clementiae) .... 44 

A Hymn for Eventide {Deus Creator Omnium) 45 

A Morning Prayer (Rector Potens Verax Deus) 47 

A Hymn to the Holy Ghost (Nunc Sancte Nobis Spiritus). ... 47 

A Vesper Song (Jam SoJ Recedit Igneus) 48 

O Word of Might (Verbum Supemum Prodiens) 49 

Hymn for the Feast of a Martyr (Rex Gloriose Martyrum) . . 50 

A Hymn for the Feast of an Apostle (Aeterna Christi Munera) . 51 

A Hymn for Sunday (Aeterne Rerum Conditor) 52 

PRUDENTIUS 55 

A Hymn for Epiphany (0 Sola Magnarum Urbium) 57 

Hymn for the Holy Innocents (Audit Tyrannus Anxius) ... 58 

Hymn for the Holy Innocents (Salvete, Flores Martyrum) ... 59 

A Morning Hymn (Ales Diei Nuntius) m 60 

The Glory of Christ (Quicumque Christum Quaeritis) .... 61 

Morning Hymn (Nox et Tenebrae et Nubilae) 62 

Behold the Golden Light (Lux Ecce Surgit Aurea) 63 

SEDULIUS 65 

A Christmas Hymn (A Solis Onus Cardine) 67 

Hymn for Epiphany (Crudelis Her odes Deum) 68 

ELPIS 71 

To Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles (Decora Lux Aeternitatis) . . 73 

FORTUNATUS 75 

On the Holy Cross (Crux Benedicta Nitet) 77 

Vesper Hymn to the Virgin (Ave Maris Stella) 78 

A Hymn for Matins (Quern Terra, Pontus, Sidera) . . . . 80 

A Hymn to the Virgin (0 Gloriosa Virginum) 81 

The Holy Cross (Vexilla Regis) 82 

The Crucifixion (Pange Lingua) 83 

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 87 

The Works of the Days (Lucis Creator Optime) 91 

The Works of the Days (Immense Coeli Conditor) 92 



CONTENTS IX 

PAGE 

The Works of the Days {Telluris Alme Conditor) 92 

The Works of the Days (Coeli Deus Sanctissime) 93 

The Works of the Days {Magnae Deus Potentiae) 94 

The Works of the Days {Hominis Superne Conditor) .... 95 

The Works of the Days {Doxology) 95 

A Morning Hymn {0 Sol Salutis Intimis) 96 

A Lenten Hymn {Audi, Benigne Conditor) 97 

Hymn to the Saviour {Salvator Mundi Domine) 98 

Early Morning Hymn {Rerum Creator Optime) 99 

A Hymn for Lent (Ex More Docti Mystico) 100 

A Hymn for Matins (Tu Trinitatis Unitas) 101 

Sunday Morning Hymn {Prima Die Quo Trinitas) 103 

At Matins {Node Surgentes) 104 

At Matins (Another Version) 105 

At Daybreak {Ecce Jam Noctis) 105 

At Daybreak (Another Version) 106 

A Hymn for Pentecost {Vent Creator Spiritus) 107 

EUGENIUS 109 

The Prayer of Eugenius {Rex Deus, Immensi) 111 

PAUL THE DEACON 113 

Vesper Hymn to St. John the Baptist {Ut Queant Laxis) . . . 115 

Hymn for Matins {Antra Deserti) 116 

Hymn for Lauds {0 Nimis Felix) 117 

ST. PAULINUS OF AQUILEIA 119 

The Apostles, Peter and Paul {Felix Per Omnes Festum) . . . 121 

THEODULPHUS . 123 

Hymn for Palm Sunday {Gloria, Laus et Honor) 125 

RABANUS MAURUS .127 

Vesper Hymn for All Saints {Placare Christe Servulis) .... 129 

Morning Hymn for All Saints {Salutis Aeterne Dator) . . . . 130 

Hymn to the Archangel Raphael {Tibi Christe Splendor Patris) . 131 

Hymn to the Archangel Michael {Te Splendor et Virtus Patris) . 132 

O Jesus, Joy of Angel Choirs {Christe, Sanctorum Decus) . . 133 

Hymn for the Apostles {Exultet Orbis Gaudiis) 134 

Hymn for the Feast of a Confessor {Jesu Redemptor Omnium) . 135 



X CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Hymn for a Confessor (Iste Confessor Domini) 136 

NOTKER 139 

The Allelu'iatic Seqjjence (Cantemus Cuncti) 141 

ST. ODO OF CLUNY 143 

For St. Mary Magdalene (Summi Parentis Unice) ..... 145 

ROBERT I., KING OF FRANCE 147 

Hymn for Whitsunday (Veni Sancte Spiritus) 149 

HERMANN CONTRACTUS 151 

Vesper Hymn to the Virgin (Alma Redemptoris Mater) .... 153 

A Vesper Psalm (Salve Regina) 153 

Vesper Hymn (Ave Regina Coelorum) ; 155 

PIERRE ABELARD 157 

The Everlasting Sabbath (0 Quanta Qualia) 159 

The Everlasting Sabbath (Another Version) 161 

ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX 165 

Vesper Hymn to Jesus (Jesu Dulcis Memoria) 167 

Hymn to the Holy Name, for Matins (Jesu Rex Admirabilis) . . 168 

Morning Hymn to Jesus (Jesu Decus Angelicum) 169 

Hymn to the Saviour (Jesu Mi Bone, Sentiam) 170 

THOMAS OF CELANO 171 

The Last Judgment (Dies Irae) 173 

ST. BONAVENTURE 177 

The Passion of Our Lord (In Passione Domini) 179 

On the Holy Cross (Recordare Sanctae Crucis) 180 

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 183 

Hymn for the Blessed Sacrament (Verbum Supernum Prodiens) . 185 

The New Pasch (Pange Lingua) . . , 186 

Morning Hymn for Corpus Christi (Sacris Solemniis) .... 187 

Hymn for Private Meditation (Adoro Te Devote) 189 

Hymn for Holy Communion (0 Esca Viatorum) 190 

Sequence for Corpus Christi (Lattda Sion) 191 



CONTENTS XI 

PAGE 

JACOPONE DA TODI 195 

The Sorrowful Mother (Stabat Mater Dolorosa) 197 

THOMAS A KEMPIS 201 

Meekness (Adversa Mundi Tolera) 203 

Suffer With Humility (Quum a Malts Molestaris) 203 

Life (Labor Parva est) 203 

The Fruits of Patience (Patiendo Fit Homo) 204 

Trust in God (In Domino Semper Spera) 204 

CARDINAL SILVIO ANTONIANO 205 

Hymn for the Feast of Holy Women (Fortem Virili Pectore) . . 207 

CARDINAL ROBERT BELLARMIN 209 

Hymn for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (Pater Superni Luminis) 211 

Hymn for the Feast of the Angel Guardian (Aeterne Rector Siderum) 212 

Hymn to the Angel Guardians (Custodes Hominum Psallimus) . 213 

URBAN Vin 215 

Hymn to St. Theresa (Regis Superni Nuntia) 217 

Hymn to St. Theresa (Haec est Dies) 217 

Hymn to St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Domare Cordis Impetus) . 218 

Hymn for the Feast of St. Martina (Martinae Celebri Plaudite) . 219 

Hymn for the Feast of St. Martina (Tu Natale Solum Protege) . 220 

The Transfiguration (Lux Alma Jesu Mentium) 221 

Hymn to St. Joseph (Te Joseph Celebrent Agmina Coelitum) . . . 221 

To St. Joseph (Coelitum Joseph Decus) 222 

Morning Hymn to St. Joseph (Iste Quern Laeti Colimus) . . . 223 

Hymn for the Feast of a Confessor (Jesu Corona Celsior). . . 224 

HYMNS BY UNKNOWN AUTHORS 227 

Hymn to the Blessed Virgin (Flos Pudicitiae. A Cento) . . . 229 

Hymn to the Blessed Virgin (Flos Pudicitiae. A Cento) . . . 230 

Hymn to the Blessed Virgin (Aurora Quae Solem Paris) . . . 230 

Hymn on the Dedication of a Church (Coelestis Urbs Jerusalem) . 232 

Hymn on the Dedication of a Church (Alto Ex Olympi Vertice) . 233 

The Prayer on Mount Olivet (Aspice ut Verbum Patris) . . . 234 

The Prayer on Mount Olivet (Venit e Coelo) 235 

Hymn on the Passion of Our Lord (Moerentes Oculi) .... 236 

Hymn on the Passion of Our Lord (Aspice Infami Deus) . . . 237 



Xii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Hymn on the Passion of Our Lord (Saevo Dolorum Turbine) . . 238 

On the Crown of Thorns (Exite, Sion Filiae) 239 

On the Crown of Thorns (Legis Figuris Pingitur) 240 

On the Spear and Nails (Quaenam Lingua Tibi) 241 

On the Spear and Nails (Sahete Clavi et Lancea) 242 

On the Spear and Nails (Tinctam Ergo Christ?) 242 

On the Winding-Sheet (Gloriam Sacrae Celebremus) 243 

On the Winding-Sheet (Mysterium Mirabile) 244 

On the Winding-Sheet (Jesu Dulcis Amor Meus) 246 

Our Lady, Help of Christians (Saepe Dum Ckristi Populus Cruentis) 247 

Our Lady, Help of Christians (Te Redemptoris Dominique Nostri) 248 

On the Most Precious Blood (Festivis Resonent Compita) . . . 249 

On the Most Precious Blood (Ira Justa Conditoris) .... 250 

On the Most Precious Blood {Sahete Christe Vulnera) .... 252 

On the Sacred Heart (Auctor Beate Saeculi) 253 

On the Sacred Heart (Quicumque Certum Quaeritis) 254 

On the Sacred Heart (En, Ut Superba Criminum) 255 

On the Sacred Heart (Summi Parentis Filio) 256 

On the Sacred Heart (Cor, Area Legem Continens) 257 

On the Seven Dolors (0 Quot Undis Lacrimarum) 258 

On the Seven Dolors (Jam Toto Subitus Vesper) 260 

On the Seven Dolors (Summae Deus Clementiae) 261 

On the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin (Te Mater Alma Numinis) 261 

On the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin (Coelo Redemptor Praetulii) 262 

On the Purity of the Blessed Virgin (PraecJara Custos Virginum) 263 

On the Purity of the Blessed Virgin (0 Stella Jacob) . »■ , ■ 264 



EARLY 
CHRISTIAN HYMNS 



ST. HILARY 

Born at Poitiers, in France, about a.d. 300, St. Hil- 
ary was one of the most noted men of his age. St. 
Augustine styles him "The illustrious doctor of the 
Churches," and St. Jerome characterizes him as "a 
most eloquent man, and the trumpet of the Latins 
against the Arians." 

According to his own account, St. Hilary was brought 
up in idolatry; but made a special study of religion, 
and soon was led to conclude that the system of poly- 
theism, under which he had been trained, was absurd; 
and he became convinced that there can be only one 
God. This led him to a study of both the old and new 
Testaments, and in a short time he was baptized, and 
was afterwards ordained as priest. 

Before his conversion he was married. His wife 
and one daughter, Apra, were living in 353, at which 
time he was chosen bishop of Poitiers. From the time 
of his ordination he lived in perpetual continency. 

He was banished by order of the Emperor Constan- 
tius for his strong opposition to the Arian heresy, in 
356, and remained in exile upwards of three years. 

While in exile he sent his daughter two hymns, one 
for the morning, "Lucis Largitor Splendide," and one 
for evening, which does not seem to have reached our 
times, unless it may be the abecedary, "Ad Coeli Clara," 
as some think. 

3 



4 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

During his banishment Hilary opposed the Arians 
with such force, that they requested Constantius to 
send him back to Gaul, so that they might be rid of his 
antagonism. This was done by the weak Emperor, 
and Hilary returned to his province in 360. 

He died at Poitiers January 13, 368, but his office is 
celebrated in the Roman Breviary on the 14th. 

With St. Ambrose, who was writing at the time, St. 
Hilary was a powerful influence in reforming and per- 
fecting the songs used in the church in his day. The 
oriental custom of antiphonal singing, first said to be 
introduced into the western church by St. Ambrose, 
was probably brought by Hilary from the east, at the 
time of his return from banishment. 



A HYMN FOR THE PENITENT 

Ad Coeli Clara 

I AM not worthy, Lerd, mine eyes 
To turn unto thy starry skies; 
But bowed in sin, with moans and sighs, 
I beg thee, hear me. 

My duty I have left undone, 
Nor sought I crime or shame to shun, 
My feet in sinful paths have run, 
Sweet Christ, be near me. 

O, fill my soul with grief sincere 
For mine offences; let the tear 
Moisten my pillow; Father hear, 
And grant repentance. 

For all my many crimes, O Lord, 
The pains of hell were just reward; 
But thou, O God, my cry regard, 
And spare the sentence* 

Redeemer, sole-begotten Son, 
Father and Spirit, three in one, 
Thou art my hope; as ages run 
Be thine all glory. 

5 



EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

If in the balance thou shouldst weigh 
My crimes, there were nor hope nor stay, 
But Lord, thy clemency I pray, 
To grace restore me. 

Dear Jesus, I acknowledge thee, 
Thou gavest thy life upon the tree; 
Who takes from thy Divinity 
Is a blasphemer. 

All godless errors, proud or vain, 
The false belief and murmuring strain 
Insult thy love, thy law profane, 
Gentle Redeemer. 

Sweet Lord, I love thy holy name; 
I hear my mother church proclaim 
The Spirit, Sire and Son the same, 
One God eternal. 

Power, love and glory be to thee, 
O high and holy Trinity; 
Be ours the bliss thy face to see 
In light supernal. 

A HYMN F<t»R PENTECOST 

Beata Nobis Gaudia 
(From the Roman Breviary) 



T 



HE rolling years, in joy complete, 
The jubilee of glory wrought, 



ST. HILARY 

What time the Heavenly Paraclete 
His gifts to the apostles brought. 

Aglow with living light he came 

Upon the twelve in tongues of fire, 

That they might all the world inflame 

With word of truth and pure desire. 
$ 

Then, guided by a power divine, 

The tongue of every clime they spake, 

Filled with God's love, as with new wine, 
They bade the earth from sin awake. 

The mystic rites are all complete, 
The paschal-tide is overpassed; 

From sin and shame remission sweet 
The new law brings our souls at last. 

Dear God of mercy and of power, 
Bowed at thy feet in prayer and love 

We come; send down thy heavenly dower, 
The Spirit's largess, from above. 

As thou hast filled our lives with light, 
And oped our bosoms to thy grace, 

So guide us ever in thy might, 
And fit us for thy dwelling-place. 

All praise to God the Father be, 
The same to Christ, the risen Son; 



EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 



And, Holy Paraclete, to thee, 
Forever reigning, three in one. 



A MORNING HYMN 

Deus Pater Ingenite 

r I A HOU unbegftten God, the Sire, 

■*- And thou, the sole-begotten Son, 
Who, with the Spirit's sacred fire, 
Art everlasting, three in one; 

To thee no mortal calls in vain, 
Nor doth the lover of the light 

Lift up unheard a prayerful strain 
Nor blindly seek thy holy height. 

Nay, Father, they that sigh for thee, 
And they that bow in humble prayer, 

Or yield the heart on bended knee, 
Still meet the sweetness of thy care. 

Reminded by the rising sun, 

To thee our grateful hearts we bring; 
With love and praise and orison, 

In hymns and songs, we gladly sing. 

Lord, let the day be one of light, 
Build all our labours unto thee; 

Thou, who hast brought us out of night, 
Keep us in strong sincerity. 



ST. HILARY 

ST. HILARY'S MORNING HYMN 

Lucis Largitor Splendide 

f~\ WONDROUS giver of the light! 

^-^ By whose eternal ray serene, 
After the lingering hours of night, 
The glory of the morn is seen, — 

Bringer of light indeed art thou; 

Not like the common sun of day 
That o'er the world is rising now 

And shining with a narrow ray; 

Nay, brighter than the solar beam, 
Thyself the sun and perfect light, 

And in the breast thy tender gleam 
Illumes with glory pure and bright. 

Creator of the world, be near, 

Thou radiance of the Father's face! 

Oh, shield us from all shapes of fear 
And guide us by thy saving grace. 

Inspire us with thy living breath, 

Dwell in our hearts both night and day, 

Lest by the tempter lured to death, 
Our erring souls be made his prey. 

Be all our actions free from stain, 
Let purity our souls refine, 



10 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

That shunning evil thoughts and vain, 
We live within thy laws divine. 

Let not our minds be overcome 
By false desire or deed of shame, 

And be our hearts a shrine and home 
Wherein shall burn thy holy flame. 

Our hope, O Saviour, is in thee, 
In thee we trust, we seek thy light; 

Lord, let thy love a beacon be 

To guide us through the gloom of night. 



A SONG OF DAWN 

Jam Meta Noctis T ran si it 

|~"^HE bounds of night are safely passed, 
-*- And slumber's bars asunder cast, 
While morn uprises on the blue 
And bathes the skies in radiance new. 

Soon as the earliest light we see 
We lift our souls, O Lord, to thee; 
To thee, sweet source of living light, 
In song and prayer our hearts unite. 

Renew our spirits, Heavenly Dove, 
In holy joy and deeds of love; 
The brightness of thy glory give 
That we may know thy light and live. 



ST. HILARY II 



To thee, O Lord of love, we raise, 
In sounding hymns, eternal praise, 
The same to Christ, the sole-born Son, 
And Holy Spirit, three in one. 



A SONG OF DAWN 

(Another version) 

Tj^ROM heaven has fled the starry night, 
■*- And startled sleep has taken flight; 
The rosy morn, uprising, spills 
Her crystal light o'er vales and hills. 

Soon as the earliest ray we see, 
Our souls are lifted, Lord, to thee; 
Dear God, to thee, our prayers we bring; 
To thee rejoicing hymns we sing. 

Lord, be our hearts and hopes renewed 
In light and love and gratitude, 
So may our deeds, illumed by thee, 
Worthy thy love and glory be. 

We praise thee, Lord, forevermore; 
Thee, with the Son our souls adore, 
And with the Spirit, three in one, 
Reigning while endless ages run. 



ST. DAMASUS 

Born in the city of Rome a.d. 304, of Spanish de- 
scent, St. Damasus engaged himself in an ecclesiastical 
state at an early age, and became successively reader, 
deacon and priest of the parish church of St. Laurence 
in that city. He was chosen bishop of Rome in the 
year 366, which office he held for eighteen years, dying 
December 10, 384. St. Jerome was his secretary for 
three years before the pope's death, and speaks of him 
as "an incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures." 
He adorned the cemeteries of the saints with epitaphs 
in verse. He has been called the inventor of rhyme, 
though without satisfactory proof. 

The small pious Christian poems which have been 
printed among the works of Claudian, have been attrib- 
uted with good authority to Damasus. 

His office is celebrated in the Roman Breviary on 
December 1 1. 



13 



HYMN TO ST. AGATHA 

Martyr is ecce dies Agathae 

BRIGHT shall the day of St. Agatha rise, 
Virgin and martyr, for lo! from the skies, 
Christ, as a lover, stooped tenderly down, 
Crowning her brow with his duplicate crown. 

Born unto affluence, gentle in blood, 
Wealth and temptation she bravely withstood; 
Earth with its vanities casting aside, 
Binding her soul to her God as a bride. 

Stronger of heart than the tyrant, her foe, 
Patient she bowed 'neath the lash and the blow; 
And by her bosom, all rent by the sword, 
Proved her invincible love for the Lord. 

Bleeding and bound in the prison, behold! 
Peter restored the sweet lamb to his fold; 
Gladly she faces the torture again, 
Rising in triumph o'er evil and pain. 

Even the strangers, who knew not the Lord, 
Flying destruction, were saved by her word; 
Surely to those who are marked with His seal, 
She will bring graces to help and to heal. 
*5 



l6 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Glorious Agatha, now as a bride, 
Raised by thy Saviour, thou stand 'st at his side; 
Hear us and plead for us, keeping thy day, 
Lift us and lead us to Jesus, we pray. 

Praise to the Father and praise to the Son, 
Praise to the Paraclete, God, Three in One; 
Blessing and glory be thine evermore; 
Keep us and care for us, Lord, we implore. 



ST. AMBROSE 

St. Ambrose is unquestionably the greatest of all 
the Latin hymn writers, not so much, perhaps, by reason 
of the value of the hymns in themselves, as the influ- 
ence which those hymns have produced in the Church. 

St. Ambrose, son of Ambrose, the prefect of the pre- 
torium in Gaul, probably in the city of Aries, was born 
in the same city in the year 340. While Ambrose was 
yet an infant his father died, and his mother returned 
with him to Rome, her own country. 

The youth learned the Greek language, and became 
a good poet. He also studied law, and practised with 
so much success, that he was soon chosen governor of 
Liguria and ^Emilia, a territory including what after- 
wards became the diocese of Milan, Turin, Genoa, 
Ravenna and Bologna. 

On the death of Auxentius, an Arian, who, on the 
banishment of St. Dionysius, had usurped the see of 
Milan, the people of that community were stirred up 
by religious strife, some demanding an Arian, and some 
a Catholic, as bishop. Ambrose felt it his duty to go 
to the church and preserve peace, and made an admi- 
rable address to the people, exhorting them to proceed 
in their choice quietly and in a spirit of peace. While 
he was yet speaking, a child cried out "Ambrose Bishop. " 
The whole assembly took up the cry, and both Catho- 
lics and Arians unanimously chose him as bishop. 

17 



1 8 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

He strove for a long time against assuming the duties 
of the office. But at last he felt himself obliged to yield 
to the wishes of the people. He was at this time only 
a catechumen; but he was soon baptized, and received 
the episcopal consecration on December 7, 374. 

He devoted the remainder of his life entirely to the 
church, and became one of its four most noted Latin 
doctors; the others being St. Jerome, St. Augustine 
and St. Gregory the Great. 

He immediately surrendered all his lands and estates 
to the church, reserving only the income for the use of 
his sister Marcellina, during her life. 

Most of the hymns which occur in the ferial office of 
the Latin Church seem to be either by St. Ambrose or 
in his style. He is said to have first introduced into 
the west the custom of singing hymns in the church. 

His hymns are so composed that the sense ends with 
the fourth verse, so that they may be sung by two choirs. 
He established the custom of chanting, by alternate 
choirs, the psalms, and other religious songs, in his 
church at Milan; and this custom soon spread to all 
churches of the west. The practice was introduced 
from the east. Since the time of St. Ambrose, antiphonal 
singing has been a feature in all Christian churches. 

St. Ambrose died about midnight before Holy Sat- 
urday, April 4, 397, at the age of fifty-seven years. But 
his feast is kept and office celebrated in the Roman 
Breviary on December 7, the day on which he was 
consecrated bishop. His body lies under the high altar 
in the Ambrosian basilica at Milan. 



EASTER HYMN 

Aurora Coelum Purpurat 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

M|~^HE morn awakes with rosy glow, 

-*■ And heaven resounds with joyful strain; 
Sweet voices cheer the earth below, 
While hell is rent with fear and pain. 

For Christ, the King of love and might, 

Hath conquered death and broke the tomb; 

He leadeth forth to heavenly light 

The souls that long have pined in gloom. 

A guard was set before his grave, 

And at the door they placed a stone, — 

The guarded tomb the Saviour clave, — 
And death and doom are overthrown. 



Then cast aside the mourning weed, 
Restrain the tear, let sorrow cease; 

"The Saviour Christ is risen indeed," - 
Thus speaks the messenger of peace. 

Be with us, Jesus, evermore, 
Our paschal joy forever be; 

Renew our lives, our hopes restore, 
From sin and sorrow set us free. 
J 9 



20 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Be praise and love and glory meet 
Unto the Sire and risen Son, 

The same unto the Paraclete 
Forever reigning three in one. 



THE TRUTH OF TRUTHS 

Tristes Erant Apostoli 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

* I ^HE sad disciples sat in gloom, 
-■■ For in the grave the Crucified 
Was laid to rest; they mourned his doom, 
And shuddered o'er the death he died. 

An angel to the women gave 

The truth of truths: "God is not dead; 
The Lord is risen from the grave, 

And bids his flock be comforted." 

The women hie, these tidings sweet 
Unto the sorrowing band to bring; 

Upon the road in joy they meet, 
And there adore the risen King. 

Then to the Galilean height 

The Apostles haste, their Lord to see; 
He sends them, blessed with bounteous light, 

His chosen witnesses to be. 



ST. AMBROSE 21 



Be with us, Lord, forevermore, 
And let thy resurrection be 

Our paschal joy; our faith restore, 
And fill our souls with love for thee. 



THE RESURRECTION 

Paschale Mundo Gaudium 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

TN paschal joy the morning sun 

-*- Drives from the world the gloom of night; 

The faithful see the Holy One 

Shining with new and glorious light. 

The wounds within his flesh appear 
Like stars amid the heavens aflame; 

The brethren rise, and void of fear, 
The Christ, their risen Lord, proclaim. 

Most clement Jesus, tender King, 

Possess our souls that, all aglow, 
The tongue may fitly say and sing 

The love that unto thee we owe. 

Be with us evermore, O Lord, 

And let thy resurrection be 
Our paschal joy; from crimes abhorred, 

In loving mercy make us free. 



22 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A PASCHAL MORNING HYMN 

Rex Sempiterne Coehtum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ETERNAL King of heaven, thy word 
Made all the spheres that roll above, 
Thou art the everlasting Lord, 
The Son of everlasting love. 

Thou gavest when the earth was new, 
To Adam's race thy image bright; 

His baser clay thou didst endue 

With spirit breathing love and light. 

When Satan's wiles in evil day 
Deformed the glory of the race, 

Thou robed'st thyself in lowly clay 
To bring again the godlike face. 

Born of a virgin void of stain, 

Thy birth, thy death, thy cloven tomb. 

Cleansing and lifting man again 

Redeemed the soul from mortal doom. 

Shepherd, whose love with grief condoles, 
Thy baptism comes, a heavenly rain, 

Bathing with grace our waking souls, 
And washing out each deadly stain. 



ST. AMBROSE 23 

Redeemer sought and promised long, 
Thy blood is poured, the price of sin; 

Upon the cross in shame uphung, 
Thy life is paid, our life to win. 

Be with us evermore, O Lord, 

And let thy resurrection be 
Our paschal joy; from crimes abhorred 

In loving mercy make us free. 

Give praise and love and glory meet 

Unto the Sire and Risen Son; 
The same to thee, O Paraclete 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



VESPER HYMN, FOR THE FEAST OF A MARTYR 

Deus Tuorum Militum 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

OGOD, of all thy host the king, 
The crown, the prize, the hand that stays, 
Absolve from stain thy flocks, who sing, 
And sound abroad thy martyr's praise. 

All joys of earth to him were nought, 
The flattering cup of pleasure seemed 

But bitter gall; he only sought 

The ways wherein thy glory beamed. 



24 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The pangs of death he bravely bore, 
He felt thy presence in all pain; 

Freely, dear Christ, did he outpour 
His blood, thy holy light to gain. 

We bow before thee, pitying Lord, 
We sing his glory for thy praise; 

Hear us and bring the sweet reward; 
Give pardon and our souls upraise. 

All praise and love and glory be 
To God the Father and the Son, 

And Holy Paraclete, to thee, 
While everlasting ages run. 



HYMN FOR LAUDS FOR THE FEAST OF A 
MARTYR 

Invicte Martyr Unicum 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

UNVANQUISHED soul, brave saint of God, 
True follower of the Martyred Son, 
In Christ's bright footsteps thou hast trod, 
And in his glorious triumph won. 

Lift up to God thy prayers for us, 

That he may purge our sins away, 
May change our evil will, and thus 

Up-raise our souls to endless day. 



ST AMBROSE 

The chains that bound thee to the earth 
Are stricken from thy sacred feet, 

Break thou our chains; thy sacred worth 
Can gain the meed of mercy sweet. 

To God the Father glory be, 

The same unto the sole-born Son, 

And heavenly Paraclete, to thee 
Forever reigning three in one. 



AN EARLY MORNING HYMN 

Jam Lucis Orto Sidera 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

WHILE morn awakes with wondrous light 
We come to thee, O Lord, in prayer; 
Guard thou and guide our steps aright 
And keep us in thy holy care. 

Lord, let our tongues be free from blame, 

Nor utter words of guilt or strife; 
Lift up our eyes from deeds of shame, 

And all the vanities of life. 

Our hearts be purged and purified 

That nought of evil shall remain; 
From worldly vice and fleshly pride 

Our souls by temperance restrain. 



25 



26 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

So keep us, Lord, from evil free, 
Till fades in dusk the sunset flame, 

That we unstained may come to thee 
And sing the glories of thy name. 

All praise to God the Father be 
And to his sole-begotten Son, 

And Holy Paraclete to thee, 

Now and while endless ages run. 



A HYMN FOR ADVENT 

Creator Alme Siderum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

OH, kind Creator of the skies, 
Eternal light to guide our feet, 
Give ear to our beseeching cries 
And save us in thy mercy sweet. 

Descending from thy throne above, 

Thou earnest the sluggish world to win, 

Moved by the power of mighty love, 
Lest earth be lost in death and sin. 

Brought forth, a sacrifice divine 
To expiate our deeds of doom, 

Thy way was through the sacred shrine 
Of earth's most precious Virgin's womb. 



ST. AMBROSE 2J 

Thy name is power; we call on thee, 

And lo, thy glory shines aflame, 
While heaven and hell with trembling knee 

Bow down before thy holy name. 

To thee we come, we cry to thee, 

O Ruler of the judgment day; 
Defend us by thy grace, lest we 

With powers of gloom, be cast away. 

Be honour, praise and glory meet 

To God the Father and the Son 
And to the Holy Paraclete, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



HYMN FOR MATINS 

Somno Refectis Artubus 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

WITH limbs refreshed by slumber's balm, 
We spurn the needless couch and rise; 
We come to thee with song and psalm, 
O Father, Lord of earth and skies. 

To thee the waking tongue shall sing, 
The soul with fire shall seek thy love; 

And thus, O Holy One, shall spring 
Our every act from light above. 



28 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Behold, the shadows fly the dawn, 
Night yields unto the star of day; 

So may the shades of vice be gone, 
And every stain be washed away. 

Hear us, dear Lord, while day is young, 
Banish, we pray, all guilt and crime, 

And let thy love by every tongue 
Be sung unto the end of time. 

Father of mercy, unto thee 

And to the sole and equal Son, 

And Paraclete, all glory be, 
Forever reigning, three in one. 



A HYMN FOR ADVENT 

En Clara Vox 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

CLEAR voice sounds from out the skies 
The hour of woe has passed from earth; 



A 



After each dream of darkness flies, 
The light of Jesus shineth forth. 

Now lifts her head the torpid soul, 
No longer prone as in a tomb, 

A new star gleams from pole to pole, 
Its glorious rays expel the gloom. 



ST. AMBROSE 20. 

Behold the Lamb! he comes to bear 

From all the world its load of sin; 
O let us haste, in humble prayer, 

And strive his loving grace to win. 

Shine out, O wondrous star, on high, 
Enclose the world in flaming light, 

Let us not fall in guilt and die; 

Lord, guard and guide our steps aright. 

Praise, honour, power and glory be 

To God the Father and the Son, 
And Holy Ghost, the same to thee, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



HYMN FOR THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD 

Jesu Redemptor Omnium 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

JESUS, Reedemer of the earth, 
Begotten by the God of light, 
Equal in majesty and might, 
Before the day-star had its birth; 

The splendour of the Father thou, 

Of humankind the living hope, 

Aid all that under heaven's cope 
Before thy holy presence bow! 



30 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Remember, O Creator Lord, 

That from the stainless Virgin's womb 
The flesh of man thou didst assume 

To save man's flesh from guilt abhorred. 

And lo, this day that gave thee birth 
Shall glorify thy holy name, 
Who from the Father's bosom came, 

Sole Son and Saviour of the earth. 

The heavens, the earth, the rolling seas, 
And all that live beneath the skies 
Uplift to thee adoring eyes 

And hail thee with new harmonies. 

And Saviour, we with souls bedewed 
In thy redeeming blood, upraise 
The tribute of our earnest praise, 

Bowed down in holy gratitude. 

Let endless power and glory be 

To Christ whom stainless Virgin bore; 
The Sire and Paraclete adore, 

With equal love eternally. 



ST. AMBROSE 3 1 

A HYMN FOR THE NIGHT SEASON 

Nox Atra Rerum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

NIGHT veils the earth in darkness, 
And holds the skies above; 
We come in prayer and seek thy care, 
Just Judge and Lord of Love. 

We call on thee to save us, 

From grovelling deed of shame; 
O make us thine by grace divine, 

To love and bless thy name. 

Lo, though our hearts are evil, 

Though strong the tempter's power, 

We dare to raise our voice in praise, 
And seek thee every hour. 

Drive from our hearts all darkness, 

All evil from the mind; 
Forever be our joy in thee, 

O Saviour of mankind. 

To Sire and Son and Spirit 

Be honour, love and praise, 
Blest Three in one, whose reign shall run 

Unto the end of days. 



32 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

PASCHAL TIDE 

Ad Regias Agm Dapes 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

TO the high table of the Lamb, 
White-robed, we come with song and psalm; 
The Red Sea's passage won, we sing 
In triumph unto Christ, the King. 

We glorify the love divine, 

Who pours for us his blood as wine; \ 

Sweet sacrifice! he deigns to give 

His flesh that man may eat and live. 

The blood is sprinkled on the door, 
The smiting angel passeth o'er; 
The cloven path across the sea 
Is closed, and whelmed the enemy. 

Our Pasch is now the Christ, our Lord, 
Our victim at the saving board; 
The true unleavened bread is he 
To souls of faith and purity. 

Celestial victim! from thy face 
The powers of darkness fly apace; 
The chains are broken from the tomb; 
True life is won and death o'ercome. 



ST. AMBROSE 33 

The Victor, Christ, with flag unfurled 
Brings triumph o'er the sinful world, 
The king of darkness quells, and opes 
The gates of heaven to human hopes. 

Dear Jesus, bring us purity, 
That thou our paschal joy may'st be; 
Be with us always; let thy love 
Illume our spirits from above. 

To God the Father glory be, 
The same, O Risen Son, to thee; 
And to the Paraclete, we raise 
An equal meed of love and praise. 



MORNING HYMN FOR ASCENSION DAY 

Aeterne Rex A It is si me 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ETERNAL King and Lord most high, 
Redeemer robed in majesty, 
Who didst the world and death o'ercome 
And rise triumphant from the tomb; 
Then to thine everlasting height 
Wast lifted in a cloud of light, 
Above the stars, through heaven's cope, — 
Thou art our light, our love, our hope. 

Earth, sea and sky, the threefold frame 
Bow down before thy sacred name, 



34 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The ranks of hell in terror see, 

Feel thy stern power, and bend the knee, 

Thy angel hosts behold and know 

The changed estate of man below, 

The flesh that sinned, made clean again, 

And God as man take up his reign. 

Be thou our lasting joy, O Lord, 
Our love on earth, our high reward; 
Kind Ruler of the world, inspire 
Our longing souls with holy fire. 
To thee we bow our hearts in prayer, 
Lord, keep us from the tempter's snare; 
Lift up our souls with heavenly grace, 
And fit us for thy dwelling-place. 

So when thou comest in majesty, 
Among the clouds, our judge to be, 
We may be freed from guilt and pain 
And our lost crown assume again. 
Jesus to thee be glory meet, 
Triumphant in thy heavenly seat, 
Unto the Sire and Spirit praise 
In equal meed through endless days. 



ST. AMBROSE 35 

VESPER HYMN FOR ASCENSION DAY 

Jesu Nostra Redemptio 1 

JESUS, our love, our Saviour, 
The joy of every heart, 
Thou bringest light unto our night, 
For light itself thou art. 

What wealth of love o 'ercame thee 

That thou shouldst will to die 
Upon the tree of Calvary 

To save mankind thereby! 

The night of sin is broken, 

The power of hell o'erthrown, 
The heavenly door made wide once more 

By thee, most Holy One. 

'Twas heavenly love impelled thee 

Thus to redeem our race, 
And bless our sight with the sweet light 

That shineth from thy face. 

Thou to the stars ascended 

Hast banished fear, O Lord; 
Be thine all praise, through endless days, 

Be thou our sweet reward. 

1 The hymn "Salutis Humanae Sator" in the Roman Breviary is an adap- 
tation of this. 



36 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

PENTECOST 

yam Christus Astra Ascenderat 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

NOW to the stars is Christ, the King, 
Ascended, whence he came, to bring 
The heavenly Paraclete, with gifts 
For the disciples' comforting. 

The solemn hours approach; we see 
Accomplished all the mystery; 

The seven times seven change of days 
Brings round the heavenly jubilee. 

The day had lifted up its light 
Three hours above the orient height, 

And still the apostles prayed; then came 
With roar of winds the God of might. 

In everlasting lustre came 

The living and abounding flame; 

It filled each breast with holy speech 
And love for the Redeemer's name. 

The hearts of the disciples glow 
With inspiration; lo, they know 

And speak in all the tongues of earth 
The deeds that God hath done below. 



ST. AMBROSE 37 

They cry aloud, all void of fear; 
Greek, Roman and barbarian hear; 
The word of God in every tongue 
They utter, speaking loud and clear. 

The faithless Jews behold the sign 
They see the miracle divine; 

But moved to wrath and fear, they cry: 
"Lo, these are overcome by wine! ,, 

Then Peter, rising up to meet 

The slanders, speaks with holy heat 

And Joel as his witness calls, 
To drive the faithless to retreat. 

To God the Father glory be, 
And Christ the risen Son, to thee, 

Who with the heavenly Paraclete, 
Reignest one God, eternally. 



O SPLENDOUR OF THE FATHER'S FACE 

Splendor Paternae Gloriae 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

SPLENDOUR of the Father's face, 



o 



Bringer of glory from above, 
True light, and Fount of every grace, 
Illume our day with faith and love. 



38 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Pour on our way, O Sun Divine, 
Thy holy truth with rays serene, 

And let the heavenly spirit shine 
With purging fires to make us clean. 

The glory of the Sire we seek, 
The Father of enduring grace; 

Lift up our spirits, fallen and weak, 
And guide us to thy dwelling place. 

Confirm us in thy love divine, 

Smooth for our feet life's rugged way; 

Our wills make ever one with thine, 
Lest evil lead our steps astray. 

Be with us still as guard and guide, 

Keep us in holy chastity, 
Let our firm faith on thee abide, 

From fraud and error hold us free. 

Dear Christ, be still our drink and food, 
Our hope, our love, our lasting faith; 

And be our souls each day renewed, 
Fired by the Spirit's quickening breatho 

Thus joyful let the day go by; 

Our modesty like morn shall glow; 
Our faith be like the midday sky, 

Nor gloom of doubt nor shadow know. 



ST. AMBROSE 39 

Lo, as the dawn brings forth the light, 
The Virgin brings the birth divine, 

True God the Son in love and might, 
True God the Sire, in power benign. 

To God the Father glory be, 

The same unto the sole-born Son, 
And Holy Paraclete to thee, 

Now and while endless ages run. 



A MORNING HYMN 

Aeterna Coeli Gloria 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

HAIL, heaven's eternal glory, thee we sing 
Who unto man the blessed hope didst bring, 
Sole offspring of the Virgin, pure and chaste, 
And of creation's dreaded Lord and King. 

Give us thy right hand, Lord, that we may rise, 
Make clean our hearts and purify our eyes, 

Like blazing torches let our songs of praise 
And gratitude ascend against the skies. 

Now rises o'er the sea the star of morn; 
Above the wave the earliest rays are borne, 

As messengers of the returning sun; 
So let thy holy light our souls adorn. 



40 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

All lingering shadows from our minds expel, 
With dreams and motions that in darkness dwell, 

Our bosoms purge of all that bringeth stain, 
And bathe our spirits in thy crystal well. 

Within our souls let saving faith find place, 
Let hope draw radiance from thy tender face, 

And let our hearts in brotherhood expand, 
The love of God and neighbour; grant this grace. 

To thee, Eternal Sire, all glory be, 
And sole and co-eternal Son, to thee, 

And unto thee, O Heavenly Paraclete, 
Almighty, everlasting, one in three. 



THE MORNING'S GOLDEN RADIANCE 

Aurora Jam Spargit 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

THE morning's golden radiance 
Now glows along the sky; 
Pierced by the shafts of sunrise, 
All lingering shadows fly. 

So from our souls all evils, 

Dear Lord, or vile or vain, 
Be driven by thy radiance, 

And nought but good remain. 



ST. AMBROSE 41 

Thus shall we come each morning, 

And bow before thee, Lord; 
Thus bring our hymns and praises; 

Be thou our sweet reward. 

To God the Sire, all glory, 

The same, O Son, to thee, 
And thee, O Holy Spirit, 

Eternal one in three. 



EVENING HYMN 

Te Lucis Ante Terminum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

BEFORE the light has passed away, 
Dear Lord, we come in prayer to thee; 
Oh, be our guide, our guard, our stay, 
And soothe us with thy clemency. 

Protect us from the powers of night, 
All base desires and dreams restrain. 

Repress all evil, bring all light, 
And keep us from unholy stain. 

Father of mercy, unto thee, 

And to the sole-begotten Son, 
And Holy Ghost, all glory be, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



42 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF A VIRGIN 

Jesu, Corona Virginum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

O JESUS, crown of virgin choirs, 
Whom the sole Virgin mother bore, 
Behold our needs and our desires; 
To thee our vows and prayers we pour. 

Among white lilies walkest thou, 

Surrounded by a virgin band, 
The bridegroom's glory on thy brow, 

The prizes in thy bounteous hand. 

Where'er thou goest, lo! the throngs 

Of virgins follow in the way, 
And sing to thee eternal songs 

And sacred hymns by night and day. 

We bow before thy lofty throne; 

Refine our souls and purify, 
That we may know thee, Holy One, 

And swift from all corruption fly. 

Be honour, glory, power and praise 
To God the Father and the Son, 

Like glory to the Spirit raise, 
Forever reigning, three in one. 



ST. AMBROSE 43 

A NIGHT SONG 

Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

GOD of creation, wondrous Might, 
Eternal power that all adore, 
Thou rulest the changing day and night, 
Thyself unchanging evermore. 

Pour light upon our fading day, 

So in our lives no dusk shall be, 
So death shall bring us to the ray 

Of heavenly glory, Lord, with thee. 

Father of Mercy, unto thee 

We lift our voice in prayer and praise, 
And to the Son and Spirit be 

Like glory to the end of days. 



HYMN BEFORE DAYLIGHT 

Consors Paterni Luminis 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

O RADIANCE of the Father, 
Thyself our light and day, 
We rise at night to praise thee, 
Assist us, Christ, we pray. 



44 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Drive from our souls all darkness, 
All thoughts and dreams of ill, 

Be thou our guide and master, 
And be thy law our will. 

Make strong thy faith within us, 
Thou knowest how weak we be: 

Lord, hear in loving kindness 
The psalms we sing to thee. 

All glory to the Father 
And sole-begotten Son, 

And to the Holy Spirit, 
While endless ages run. 



HYMN FOR EARLY MORNING 

Summae Parens Clementiae 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

PARENT of heavenly clemency, 
And ruler of creation's frame, 
In substance one, in persons three, 
We praise and bless thy holy name. 

O Lord of all the rolling spheres, 

We send our cries and prayers to thee; 

In mercy mark the prayers and tears, 
And keep our souls from evil free. 



ST. AMBROSE 45 

Our bodies and our minds refine 

In fires of love; dear Saviour, be 
Our strength, and give us grace divine 

To keep our wills aloft with thee. 

So shall we hourly evermore 

Bring songs of praise and hymns of love, 
That when our earthly days are o'er 

Thou 'It bring us to our home above. 

Father most merciful, thy name 

We glorify; thou sole-born Son, 
And Heavenly Spirit, each the same, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



A HYMN FOR EVENTIDE 
Deus Creator Omnium 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

OSHAPER of tremendous might, 
Whose will the spheres in place doth keep. 
Robing the day in radiant light, 
The silent night in balmy sleep. 

Now all the toils of day are o'er, 
The weary limbs from labour free, 

Our minds, aroused, shall heavenward soar, 
And leave all anxious cares with thee. 



46 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The day is done, and with the night 

Let thanks and prayers and hymns begin; 

We cry to Thee, O God of Light, 

Keep thou our souls from stain of sin. 

From our deep hearts we sing to thee, 
Our blended voices hail thy name; 

O holy Love, our lover be, 

As we adore thee and proclaim. 

When shadows round the world shall flow, 
And heavy night shut out the day, 

Lord, let our faith no darkness know, 
But, shining, light us on our way. 

Let not the mind in slothful ease 
Leave aught of evil to remain; 

Let faith drive forth all phantasies, 
And every dream impure and vain. 

Dispel all vices from the mind, 
And be the soul's one aim to thee, 

That thus the tempter shall not find 
Power to awake impurity. 

Eternal Father, sole-born Son, 
And Holy Spirit, hear our prayer, 

Thou potent Godhead, three in one, 
Support and keep us in thy care. 



ST. AMBROSE 47 

A MORNING PRAYER 

Rector Potens Verax Deus 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ALMIGHTY Ruler, Lord of light, 
Thy hand controls the day and night, 
Robing the morn in rosy ray, 
And lifting high the fire of day. 

Dear Lord, extinguish from our life, 
The fire of sin, the flame of strife; 
Unto our bodies health impart, 
And tender peace to every heart. 

Father, we bow before thy throne, 
Thee with the Christ, thine only Son, 
And Paraclete, our souls adore, 
With equal love forevermore. 



A HYMN TO THE HOLY GHOST 

Nunc Sancte Nobis Spiritus 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

COME, Holy Spirit, Lord of light, 
Who with the Sire and Saviour art 
One God of majesty and might, 
Thy brightness pour in every heart. 



48 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

V\ ith tongue, and soul, and sense and power 
Thy praise forevermore we il sing; 

Thy love shall be our holv dower, 
-And man to brotherhood shall bring. 

Be with us Father evermore, 

W horn, with the sole-begotten Son 

And Heavenly Spirit, all adore, 
One God, while endless ages run. 



A VESPER SOXG 

Jam Sol Recedit Igneus 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

WHILE sinks in golden fire the sun. 
We seek thee, Lord, ere fall of night: 
O, tender Master, three in one, 
Inflame our souls with holy light. 

With morning song of praise we came, 
Again we come with evening hymn; 

Lord, let us ever bless thy name 
With cherubim and seraphim. 

To God the Father and the Son 
And Holv Ghost be endless praise, 

From earliest hour, as ages run, 
All glory to the end of days. 



ST. AMBROSE 

O WORD OF MIGHT 

Verbum Supernum Prodiens 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

OWORD of Might, that springing forth 
From out the Father's heart, wast born 
To raise our fallen state on earth, 
Bring help, and leave us not forlorn. 

Illume our breasts with heavenly light, 
And set our souls aflame with love, 

That we, forsaking things of night, 
Shall lift our hopes to joys above. 

When from the awful judgment throne 
Dread doom unto his foes the Lord 

Shall send, and call in tender tone 
The just unto their sweet reward; 

Let not our souls on that dread day 
Be rolled in seething pools of fire; 

Let mercy melt thine ire away, 
And be thy love our sole desire. 

Then to the Father and the Son 

And Holy Spirit, one in three, 
From first to last, as ages run, 

Eternal praise and glory be. 



49 



50 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF A MARTYR 

Rex Gl or iose Martyrum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

OHOPE of Martyrs, glorious King, 
Rich crown of all who preach thy might, 
Spurning the earth, their souls upspring, 
With thee for guide, to heavenly light. 

To us thy tender mercy lend, 

And hear the humble prayers we raise; 

In holy love our voices blend; 

Make strong our hearts to sing thy praise. 

By martyr blood thou quellest sin; 

Thou savest the world by wondrous love; 
Lord, let our souls thy mercy win, 

To meet thy saints in joy above. 

To God the Sire all glory be, 

To God the sole-begotten Son, 
And Holy Paraclete to thee, 

While everlasting ages run. 



ST. AMBROSE 5 1 

A HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF AN APOSTLE 

Aeterna Christi Munera 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ETERNAL Servants of the Lord, 
With psalms and hymns and praises due, 
To you, who brought the holy word, 
We come, and lift our hearts to you. 

Princes to whom the church was given, 

Strong leaders in the war sublime, 
And soldiers in the halls of heaven, 

Ye are the lamps that light all time. 

The faith that fires the holy heart, 

The true believer's blessed hope, 
And perfect love, — these powers impart, — 

The strength with evil force to cope. 

In these, O Father, is thy power, 

In these thy victory, O Son, 
In these the Spirit's will to shower 

On all the heavens' sweet benison. 

To God the Father sound the praise, 

The Son with equal love adore, 
And God the Spirit, — let us raise 

One strain of blessing evermore. 



5* 



E 



EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A HYMN FOR SUNDAY 

Aeterne Rerum Conditor 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

TERNAL builder of the skies, 



Dread ruler of the night and day, 
With glories thou hast blessed our eyes, 
To drive the stain of pride away. 

To those that seem in gloom forlorn 
Thou art a light; our scattered fold 

Now hear the herald of the morn, 
The splendour of its rays behold. 

The day star rising from the wave 
Scatters the mist from heaven's blue, 

And buried in a sunless grave 

The dreams of error sink from view. 

The sailors stand upon the deck, 

The sea grows mild, the waves subside, 

The ship of evil lies awreck, — 

Calm stands thy rock above the tide. 

And hark the crowing of the cock! 

The sound shall rouse earth's erring sons; 
Arise and seek the saving rock, 

Ye weary, weak and fainting ones. 



St. AMBROSE 53 

Hope cometh with the morning song, 
The sick shall rise from bed of pain, 

Ensheathed shall be the sword of wrong, 
And faith shall find her own again. 

O Jesus guard thy wandering sheep 

From thy sweet fold ne'er more to stray; 

Our feeble steps from danger keep, 
And fear shall melt in tears away. 

Shine on our souls, O Living Light; 

From stain of error keep us free; 
Let songs of praise by day and night, 

And vows of love arise to thee. 

Now let us sing in anthems sweet 

To God the Father and the Son, 
Who with the Holy Paraclete 

Forever reigneth, three in one. 



PRUDENTIUS 

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, "the glory of the 
ancient Christian poets," as he has been called, was 
born in Spain in 348, at Calahorra, in Old Castile. As 
he resided for some time at Saragossa, in the quality 
of Governor, it has been mistakenly believed by some 
writers that he was born in that city. 

He studied rhetoric in his youth, and became accom- 
plished and noted as a pleader. He was made twice 
governor of provinces and cities in Spain, and was 
afterwards, as he says, raised by Theodosius I. to the 
highest rank and dignity of the Court, by which it is 
generally understood that he became prefect of the pre- 
torium. 

In his fifty-seventh year be began to devote his whole 
time to the divine service, and consecrated his leisure 
hours to the composition of sacred poems. 

He has always been esteemed the most learned of the 
Christian poets. Erasmus declares that for the sanc- 
tity and sacred erudition which are displayed in his 
writings he deserves to be ranked among the gravest 
doctors of the church. Some ecclesiastical writers give 
him the title of saint, but his name does not occur in 
the Martyrologies. The year of his death is not known. 



55 



A HYMN FOR EPIPHANY 

Sola Magnarum Urbium 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

A SACRED town is Bethlehem, 
Its walls are wondrous fair; 
For Jesus, our salvation, came 
And made his birthplace there. 

The star that leads the sages three 

Is bright as early day, 
And in its light their God they see 

Enrobed in mortal clay. 

They bow to earth as they behold, 

And orient offerings bring, 
The myrrh, the frankincense, the gold, 

As God, as man, as king. 

Unto the King the golden hoard, 

As tribute they prefer; 
The incense to the deathless Lord, 

To mortal man the myrrh. 

To thee, O Christ, be glory meet; 

Thy name all lands adore; 
Unto the Sire and Paraclete 

Like glory evermore. 

57 



58 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN FOR THE HOLY INNOCENTS 

Audit Tyrannus Anxius 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

WITH dread the tyrant Herod hears 
The tidings of the king to come; 
The Prince of Israel he fears, 

And trembling feels impending doom. 

He bids the guard, with maddened cry, 
"Go forth and loose the avenging flood; 

The infant king must surely die; 
So be the cradles drenched in blood. 

"Let not a nursing boy escape, 

Rob every bosom by the sword, 
Lest fraud or guile a way shall shape 

To save the Christ, the infant Lord." 

The willing executioner 

Received the direful word, and drew 
The striking sword, the piercing spear, 

And all the tender nurslings slew. 

What profit, Herod, this to thee ? 

What help can such dread crime afford ? 
Alone of all the infants, see, 

Borne safe and harmless is the Lord. 



PRUDENTIUS 59 

To God the Sire be glory meet, 

To Jesus whom the Virgin bore, 
And to the Heavenly Paraclete, 

One God, one praise forevermore. 



HYMN FOR THE HOLY INNOCENTS 

Salvete, Flore s Martyr urn 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

HAIL, tender wreath of flowers, whose day 
Of beauty, crossed by tyrant spite, 
Was offered, as a budding spray 
Of roses to the Lord of light. 

Yours was the foremost glory given 
To martyrdom; O shining throng, 

Ye play amid the halls of heaven 
With palm and crown in holy song. 

Jesus, to thee be glory meet, 

Who filFst the nations with thy rays, 

And to the Sire and Paraclete 
Be equal glory, power and praise. 



60 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A MORNING HYMN 

Ales Die i Nuntius 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

THE bird that heralds in the day 
Sings out his knell of passing night, 
And Christ, whose love is still our stay, 
Recalls our souls to love and light. 

He speaketh, "Leave your beds in haste, 
No more in ease and sloth abide, 

Be sober, righteous, just and chaste, 
And watch, for I am at your side." 

We call thee, Lord, in psalm and song, 
With prayers and tears we come to thee; 

Lord, let our hearts be pure and strong, 
From sin and sorrow make us free. 

Dispel the cloud of idle sleep, 

And break the bands that hold the night, 
Our souls from stain of evil keep, 

And grant us, Lord, thy holy light. 

To God the Father glory be, 

The same to Christ, the sole-born Son, 

And Holy Ghost eternally, 

One God, one praise as ages run. 



PRUDENTIUS 6 1 

THE GLORY OF CHRIST 

Ouicumque Christum Quaeritis 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

OTHOU who seek'st the Christ to find, 
Uplift thine eyes on high; 
For lo! to every humble mind 
His glory fills the sky. 

His mighty wonders there behold, 

In boundless fields of light, 
Sublime, eternal, and as bid 

As heaven and ancient night. 

Here is the nation's King indeed, 

Here Israel's mighty Lord, 
To Abraham promised and his seed, 

Forevermore adored. 

To him each prophet witnesseth, 

By word and sign sincere; 
Acknowledged by the Sire, who saith, 

"Behold, believe and hear!" 

To Jesus, who his light displays 

To babes, all glory be, 
To Sire and Spirit equal praise 

For all eternity. 



62 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

MORNING HYMN 

Nox et Tenebrae et Nubilae 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

THE clouds, the shadows, and the night 
Long held in gloom both earth and sky, 
Light enters, and the heavens grow bright, 
Christ comes, and lo, the shadows fly. 

The blinding fog is pierced amain, 

By shining arrows of the sun, 
Earth's golden rays return again, 

The glory of the morn is won. 

The light is thine, O Christ! we see 

Thy glory in the open day; 
With tears and songs we come to thee; 

Lift up and guide our souls, we pray. 

Cleanse us from stain of sinful pride, 
And warm us in thy living light; 

Thou art our heavenly lamp, our guide; 
Shine in thy sweetness, clear and bright. 

To God the Father, glory be, 

And equal glory to the Son, 
The same, O Paraclete, to thee, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



PRUDENTIUS 63 

BEHOLD THE GOLDEN LIGHT 

Lux Ecce Surgit Aurea 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

BEHOLD, the golden light appears, 
The blinding shadows pass away, 
That filled our souls with shuddering fears, 
And led our feeble feet astray. 

Fair weather cometh with the morn; 

Its radiance purifies the soul; 
It drives away deceit and scorn, 

And clears the heart of gloom and dole. 

Lord, in thy day no sin shall be, 

Each tongue be true and just each hand, 

Our eyes no evil thing shall see, 

Nor deed of guile on earth be planned. 

Thy gaze, O Lord, is on our way, 
Thou walk'st a guardian by our side, 

Thou see'st our every act each day 
From earliest dawn to eventide. 

To God the Father glory be, 

With equal love the Son adore, 
And, Holy Paraclete, to thee 

Be praise and power forevermore. 



SEDULIUS 

A native of Ireland, born about the year 400, Sedu- 
lius was an eminent poet, orator and divine. For love 
of learning he left his native country and travelled into 
France, Italy and Asia. He settled at length in Rome, 
where he came to be held in high esteem for his great 
accomplishments. 

He is said by some to have become a bishop under 
Theodosius the Great. 

The two following hymns are taken from an abecedary 
on the life of Christ, and are used in the Roman Brev- 
iary for Christmas Day and the Epiphany. 

Facts are wanting as to the dates of his birth and 
death. 



F 



A CHRISTMAS HYMN 

A Solis Ortus Cardine 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ROM where the sun awakes the morn 
Unto his utmost westering, 
We sing the Christ, the Virgin-born, 

The Prince of heaven and earth we sing. 

Behold, the God of ages comes 
And taketh flesh of humble clay; 

Man's Maker man's poor form assumes 
To wash the stains of flesh away. 

A virgin's womb becomes the shrine 

That holds the Lord of heaven and earth, 

Through stainless maid, by grace divine, 
The God-child hath his wondrous birth. 

Her modest breast is made his home, 

The temple of her God is she; 
Enshrined in Mary's spotless womb, 

He comes the world from doom to free. 

He comes upon this happy morn, 
Announced by angel's heralding, 

Known by the Baptist, yet unborn, 
Adoring in the womb his King. 

67 



68 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

On lowly bed of hay he lies, 
His palace but a stable poor; 

The God that rules the earth and skies 
Doth all our wants and woes endure. 

The angel choirs rejoice on high, 

Through radiant skies their voices ring, 

The shepherds see the blazing sky, 
And bow before the Infant King. 

All praise and power and glory be 
To Jesus whom the Virgin bore; 

Father, be equal meed to thee 
And to the Spirit evermore. 



HYMN FOR EPIPHANY 

Crudelis H erodes Deum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

WHY fear the coming of the king, 
O cruel Herod ? Christ, the Son 
Asks nought of earth, but comes to bring 
To all who seek, a heavenly throne. 

The Magi follow through the night 
The mystic star that goes before; 

By light, they seek the Lord of Light, 
The King and God whom they adore. 



SEDULIUS 69 

Oh, purer than the morning ray,. 

Celestial Lamb, thou comest to bear 
Our sins, and wash our guilt away, 

That we with thee, God's love may share. 

O Fount of Love! O power divine! 

We bow before thy holy might; 
Thy word makes water pour as wine; 

Thy love brings day unto our night. 

Jesus to thee be glory meet, 

Who shinest o'er earth in light and love, 
So to the Sire and Paraclete 

Let earth resound and heaven above. 



ELPIS 

Wife of the illustrious Roman writer and statesman, 
Boetius, Elpis was born, perhaps not later than 475, of 
a noble Sicilian family. In 500, when King Theodoric 
came to Rome he made Boetius master of the palace. 
He was chosen consul three times, and his two sons, by 
Elpis, were made consuls in their nonage, in 523. 

Her husband was cruelly put to death by the bar- 
barian king in 525, and his estates confiscated; but 
these were restored to Elpis, who survived Boetius, by 
the king's daughter Amalasunta, on the death of Theo- 
doric, which took place soon after the martyrdom of 
Boetius. It is not known when the death of Elpis 
occurred. 

Elpis was noted as a lady of great learning, wit and 
beauty. 

The following hymn is divided, and adapted for three 
several hymns in the Roman Breviary, one for January 
25, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, the other 
two for June 29, the feast of the Apostles Peter and 
Paul. 



71 



TO STS. PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES 

Decora Lux Aeternitatis 

ETERNAL glory, with the streaming ray 
Of holy fire, has filled the golden day, 
Crowning with light the apostolic chiefs, 
And opening through the stars their luminous way. 

The guide of earth, the guard of heaven's gate, 
Fathers of Rome and lords of every state, 

Death was their triumph by the sword and cross, 
The martyr's laurel is their crown elate. 

Kind Shepherd, Peter, unto thee was given 
The keys to close and ope the gates of heaven; 

Strike from our souls the galling chain of crime, 
And gain the grace for which our hearts have striven 

O learned Paul, inspire us from above 
With all the graces of the Heavenly Dove; 

Bring us the faith to see the truth of God, 
And brighten earth with the sweet reign of love. 

O happy Rome, that by their martyr blood 
Art glorified and consecrate; the flood 

Thy gates emblazon; through the flying years 
Fairest of earthly cities hast thou stood. 

n 



74 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Unto the everlasting Trinity 

All power and praise and jubilation be; 

One God eternal ruling heaven and earth; 
Thy name is holy; Lord we worship thee. 



FORTUNATUS 

Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, 
the chief Latin poet of his time, was born in Italy, not 
far from Treviso, in the year 530. 

He studied at Ravenna, and became an able gram- 
marian and rhetorician. He was the author of a num- 
ber of books both in prose and verse. He wrote the 
life of St. Martin of Tours in verse, and compiled biog- 
raphies, in prose, of a number of saints; but, says Alban 
Butler, these lives "are barren of facts and filled with 
relations of miracles. " His prose is stiff and mechan- 
ical, while most of his poetry is harmonious, animated, 
and possesses an easy rhythmical flow. 

He fled from the swords of the barbarians at Ra- 
venna, and settled at Tours in 565. He was afterwards 
invited to Poitiers by St. Radegund, the cloistered 
queen of France, where he became her private secre- 
tary, was ordained priest, and on the death of Plato, 
bishop of Poitiers, in 595, he was chosen to fill that 
See some years after the death of Radegund. 

His life of St. Radegund, different from his other 
prose works, is a useful narrative of the actions and 
virtues of that holy woman. 

In 566, the Emperor Justin, sent on the queen's re- 
quest a fragment of the true Cross from Constantinople, 
adorned with gold and precious stones, to be deposited 

75 



76 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

in the Sanctuary of the Holy Cross, which she had 
erected at Poitiers. 

It was on that occasion that the hymns, Vexilla Regis, 
and Pange Lingua were composed by Fortunatus, and 
these were sung for the first time on the arrival of the 
relic. Since that time they have been used in the whole 
church. The Pange Lingua is spoken of by Daniel 
as one of the most beautiful of the Latin hymns, and 
Randolph places the Vexilla Regis among the seven 
great hymns of the Mediaeval Church. The hymn, Ave 
Maris Stella, assigned by Wackernagel and others to 
Fortunatus, is perhaps the most popular of all the 
hymns to the Blessed Virgin. 

Fortunatus died, probably, December 4, 609, and his 
name is honoured at Poitiers among the saints on that 
day. 



ON THE HOLY CROSS 

Crux Bene dicta Nitet 

BRIGHT is the benedight cross, where the Lord, 
in his agony hanging, 
Washes our wounds in his blood, bathing and healing 
our souls. 



Urged by his tender love, he has offered himself as a 
victim, 
Yielded his life as a lamb, saving the flock from the 
wolf. 

There by his bleeding palms he has saved the nations 
from ruin; 
And by his sacred death closed the gate of the grave. 

Pierced by the merciless nails, here see we the hand 
that will later 
Rescue Paul from his crime, rescue Peter from death. 

Wonderful tree! what wealth of fertility goes to thy 
springing, 
That on thy branches thou bear'st fruit of such mar- 
vellous kind. 

Marvellous fruit! by whose quickening odor the dead 
from their graves rise, 
And unto life return they that were worn with the day. 

77 



jS EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Under thy sheltering leaves we feel not the heat of the 
summer, 
Neither at noon shall the sun burn, nor the moon in 
the night. 

Fair as a tree that is set by the running waters thou 
standest 
Spreading thy branches wide, robed in the glory of 
flowers. 

Hangs from thine arms that Vine which is weighed as 
the price of salvation, 
Rosy the wine that flows, sweet is the cup to our 
souls. 



VESPER HYMN TO THE VIRGIN 

Ave Maris Stella 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

HAIL, O star of ocean, 
Hail, our golden door, 
Mother of the Mighty, 
Virgin Evermore. 

By the angel's "Ave!" 

Thou didst fain receive, 
Change our grief to glory, 

Be our better Eve. 



FORTUNATUS 79 



Break the bonds of sorrow, 
Bring our souls thy light; 

By thy tender radiance 

Guide us through the night. 

Be indeed our mother, 
Help us in our need; 

Lift thy voice to Jesus, 
He will hear and heed. 

Virgin of all virgins, 

Thee our queen we seek; 

Fire with love our bosoms, 
Make us chaste and meek. 

Raise our hearts in rapture, 
Lead us on the way, 

To thy Son, Lord Jesus, 
In eternal day. 

Praise to God the Father 

And the Saviour be, 
With the Holy Spirit, 

Reigning one in three. 



80 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A HYMN FOR MATINS 

Quern Terra, Pontus, Sidera 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

THE God whom earth and skies proclaim, 
And all the hosts of heaven adore, 
The ruler of the three-fold frame, 
The humble womb of Mary bore. 

That selfsame power that heaven and earth 
Have served since dawn of time began, 

From mortal womb hath wondrous birth, 
To bear away the sins of man. 

O Mother bright! thy blessed soul 
He shaped all pure and undefiled; 

He holds the world in his control, 
Yet in thy arms he lies, a child. 

Bride of the Spirit! Blessed One! 

Thy name shall sound in psalm and song; 
Emmanuel comes, the Virgin's Son, 

For whom the world has waited long. 

All praise and power and glory meet 
To Christ whom spotless Virgin bore, 

And to the Sire and Paraclete 
Be equal meed forevermore. 



FORTUNATUS 8 I 

A HYMN TO THE VIRGIN 

Gloriosa Virginum 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

O GLORY of Virginity, 
Fairest of stars upon the skies, 
The Master who created thee 
An infant on thy bosom lies. 

The blessings lost by Eva's crime 

Thy marvellous motherhood restored, 

And oped for man the gate sublime 

Where shines the brightness of the Lord. 

Through thee the halls of heaven we gain, 

Thou regent of the golden door; 
We hail thee Virgin, void of stain, 

And sound thy praise forevermore. 

Jesus to thee be glory meet, 

The Virgin-born, our God and King; 

So to the Sire and Paraclete 
Let everlasting praises ring. 



82 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

THE HOLY CROSS 

Vexilla Regis 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

BEHOLD the standard of the King! 
The wondrous cross is borne on high 
Whereon the Saviour willed to die, 
That out of death new life should spring. 

O, wounded by the spear, a flood 
Flows from his side in love sublime, 
To wash our souls from stain and crime 

He sheds the water and the blood. 

Fulfilled is all the prophecy 

Which David in his holy strain, 
Sang to the nations; God doth reign; 

Lo, he hath conquered by the tree. 

O beauteous tree! O wondrous wood! 
Dight with the purple of our king, 
Deemed worthy all our hope to bring, 

And touch the sacred limbs of God. 

O blessed balance, where was weighed 
The price of ages; here was brought 
The sacred body that hath bought 

Our life and our salvation paid. 



FORTUNATUS 83 

Hail cross, our only hope! in this 
The paschal-tide give added grace; 
Let tears of penance bathe each face; 

O cleanse our hearts and bring us bliss. 

Salvation's fountain, three in one, 

Let every spirit praise thy name; 

Grant that we may the victory claim, 
And evermore thy will be done. 



THE CRUCIFIXION 

Pange Lingua 

T^RAME, my tongue, a song of wonder, 
-■- Let the noble numbers ring; 
Sing the glorious triumph crowning 

Our Redeemer, Christ the King; 
Sing the sacred immolation 

That from death revoked the sting. 

By the tree the crime of Adam 

Plunged the earth in blighting sin; 

From the tree man's woe was measured, 
All the evil lay therein; 

On the tree, by God's appointment, 
Christ must die the world to win. 

Thus the work of our salvation 
Was by law divine ordained, 
Thus by good to ill opposing, 



84 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Was the tempter's power restrained; 
Whence the evil, thence the healing, 
Whence came death true life is gained. 

In his holy hour the Saviour 

From the halls of heaven is come, 

Takes the flesh of human nature; 
So to save the flesh from doom; 

Born as man, the world's Creator 
Issues from a virgin's womb. 

In a stable poor and lowly, 

He, a tender child is born, 
With a manger for a cradle, 

Our Redeemer lies forlorn; 
Swathing him in bands, the mother 

Shields the Babe from shame and scorn. 

Thirty years are soon completed, 

And the day of woe is nigh; 
Comes the hour of man's redemption, 

When the Christ is doomed to die; 
On the cross, a lamb, uplifted, 

Lo! the Lord of earth and sky! 

With a crown of thorns they crown him, 
And they nail him to the wood, 

With a lance they pierce his body 
Whence the water and the blood 

Flow, till ocean, earth and heaven 
Bathe in the redeeming flood. 



FORTUNATUS 85 



Faithful cross, a tree so noble 
Never grew in grove or wood; 

Never leaf or blossom flourished 
Fair as on thy branches glowed; 

Sweet the wood and sweet the iron 
Bearing up so dear a load. 

Ah! relax thy native rigour, 
Bend thy branches, lofty tree! 

Melt, O wood, in tender mercy! 
Christ, the King of Glory, see! 

Veiled in human sin and sorrow, 
Slain, from sin the world to free. 

Thou alone art found all worthy 
Earth's dread sacrifice to bear; 

Thus to save the world from ruin, 
And the way to heaven prepare; 

By his sacred blood anointed, 

Thou, O Tree, art wondrous fair. 

Everlasting praise and glory 

To the blessed trinity; 
Glory to the heavenly Father, 

To the Son like glory be; 
Glory to the Holy Spirit, 

God eternal, one in three. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 

St. Gregory, a monk of the Benedictine order, and 
surnamed the Great, on account of his illustrious actions 
and extraordinary virtues, was born at Rome about 
540, and died in the same city on December 12, 604. 

On the death of Pope Pelagius II. in January, 590, 
Gregory was unanimously chosen to fill the papacy, al- 
though much against his wishes. It is said that he 
opposed his own election with all his power. He was 
the first monk to ascend the Apostolical See. 

His humility through life was only equalled by his 
wonderful ability. He impressed the seal of humility 
upon the papacy itself by adopting as his title "The 
servant of the servants of God." 

Some time before his elevation, he had observed some 
Saxon youths exposed for sale as slaves in the market 
place. Struck with their beauty, he asked to what 
country they belonged; and being told they were 
"Angles," he replied that they might better be called 
angels. Then with a sigh he said it was a pity that the 
prince of darkness should enjoy so fair a prey; and 
that men with so fine an outside should have none of 
God's grace for their internal adornment. 

He resolved at once to undertake the mission to Brit- 
ain and, having obtained permission from Pope Pelagius, 
he was already on his way, when the people of Rome, 

87 



88 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

among whom the popularity of Gregory was very great, 
raised so much opposition to his departure, that the 
Pope felt obliged to recall him. It was not as a mission- 
ary but as a Pope that he was to win England to the 
church. He afterwards sent St. Augustine on the mis- 
sion, who in 597 arrived in Kent with forty monks to 
preach the gospel to the English. 

Gregory rendered noble services to the Liturgy. 
He put in order the work of his predecessors and gave 
its definitive form to the holy sacrifice of the Mass. 

The Gregorian Chant is a monument to his skill as 
a sacred musician. "He had the glory," says Mon- 
talembert, "of giving to ecclesiastical music that sweet 
and solemn, and, at the same time, popular and durable 
character, which has descended through ages, and to 
which we must always return after the most prolonged 
aberrations of frivolity and innovation. " 

He established at Rome a school of music to which 
all Christian nations sent representatives. 

According to mediaeval legend, it was while consider- 
ing the fascination exercised by profane music, that 
Gregory was led to inquire whether he could not, like 
David, consecrate music to the service of God. One 
night he had a vision in which the church appeared to 
him in the form of a muse, writing her songs and gather- 
ing her children under the folds of her mantle. Upon 
this mantle was written the whole art of music, with 
all the forms of its tones, notes, neumes, and various 
measures and symphonies. He prayed to God to give 
him the power of recollecting all he saw. After he awoke 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 89 

a dove appeared and dictated to him the musical com- 
positions with which he has enriched the church. 

He served in his own school as a teacher of music 
and singing. 

Gregory has been falsely accused of possessing a 
contempt for literature and science, and of having de- 
stroyed certain ancient monuments and writings. These 
imputations date no further back than the twelfth cen- 
tury. The writers of his own time show him as a highly 
educated and wise man, surrounded by the most learned 
priests and monks of his day, and as John the deacon, 
his biographer, says, "he made the seven liberal arts 
noble pillars of the portico of the Apostolical Chair." 

St. Gregory the Great ranks next to St. Ambrose in 
the number of hymns contributed to the church services. 

I have placed the Works of Days among his poems 
for, although it is customary to count them as Ambro- 
siana, the better opinion is that most if not all were 
written by Gregory. 



D 



THE WORKS OF THE DAYS 

Lucis Creator Optime 
(From the Roman Breviary) 
First day. Genesis i: 1-5 

IVINE creator of the light, 



Who, bringing forth the golden ray, 
Didst join the morning with the night 
And call the blessed union day; 

We bow to thee, whose mighty word 
Made time begin and heaven move; 

Hear thou our tearful prayer, O Lord, 
And warm us with the light of love. 

Lord, let no crime our souls oppress, 
Or keep us from thy law divine; 

Oh guard us by thy saving grace 

And make our wills accord with thine. 

Still may we seek thy heavenly seat, 

And strive eternal life to gain; 
Oh, keep us in thy mercy sweet, 

And cleanse our souls from earthly stain. 



9* 



92 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Immense Coeli Conditor 
Second day. Genesis i: 6-8 

ALMIGHTY Maker of the skies, 
Thy power the mingled waters clave, 
And bade the clouds on high to rise 
And fixed with bounds the ocean wave. 

So shall the moistening rain and dew 
Temper the flaming heats of noon; 

So shall the year its wealth renew 
Of vernal glow and harvest boon. 

Grant to our souls, O Lord of Love, 
The gift of thy perennial grace, 

Lest evil should our senses move 
And bring again the old disgrace. 

Let faith increase the fire of love, 
And bring the glory of thy light, 

Let all our dreams come from above, 
And banish every deed of night. 



Telluris Alme Conditor 

Third Day. Genesis i: 9-13 

IND Builder of the earth, thy hand 
Confined the currents of the sea, 
And fixed with bounds the stable land 
Above the raging waters free. 



K 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 93 

Then earth brought forth the tender green, 
The wealth and glow of fruit and flower; 

O'er all the world thy love was seen, 
O'er all the world was felt thy power. 

So clothe, O Lord, my barren soul 
In brightening beauty of thy grace, 

Her every hope and deed control, 

And let no grovelling thought have place. 

Thy will be hers forever, Lord, 

And far from evil's poisonous breath 

Let her rejoice in thy sweet word, 
Nor ever know the stroke of death. 



Coeli Deus Sanctissime 
Fourth day. Genesis 1: 14-19 

MOST Holy God, who dost adorn 
With shining spheres the brow of night, 
And bringest to the rosy morn 
The tender glow of growing light. 

Thy fourth day's labour fired the sun, 
And sent the moon upon her way, 

And gave each orb its course to run, 
As guiding signs by night and day. 

The moon and stars to rule the night, 
The sun to bring his warming glow, 



94 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Thus ever changing, dark or bright, 

The days and months and seasons flow. 

Lord, fire our breasts with holy light, 
That we may know thy law sublime; 

Drive from our heart all deeds of night, 
And cleanse the soul of guilt and crime. 

Magnae Deus Potentiae 

Fifth day. Genesis i: 20-23 

ALMIGHTY God, thy mercy gave 
The teeming life of sea and sky, 
The fish to welter in the wave, 

The bird to sing and soar on high. 

So for the flowing waters formed, 
The finny tribe shall multiply; 

So in the pleasant sunshine warmed, 
The feathered race shall throng the sky. 

Grant unto us, thy servants, Lord, 
Imbathed in thy all-cleansing blood, 

To cling unto thy saving word, 

That sin and death may be withstood. 

Lord, let no weltering thoughts oppress, 
Nor soaring pride the bosom swell, 

To wreck the soul with wretchedness, 
Or lead her unto deeds of hell. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 95 

Hominis Superne Conditor 
Sixth day. Genesis 1: 24-31 

MAKER of man, thou God of Might, 
Thy will commanded earth to bring 
Out of its womb, to life and light, 
The cattle and the creeping thing. 

The wonders of thy mighty plan, 

The wealth and power of land and sea, 

Are subject, by thy word, to man, 
His will controls the world for thee. 

Then Lord, subdue all false desire, 

From every evil keep us free, 
Inflame our souls with holy fire, 

And lift our aims to heaven and thee. 

O, be thyself our sweet reward, 

Light up our hearts with saving grace, 

Bring all mankind to sweet accord, 
And fit us for thy dwelling place. 

Doxology 

Most gracious Father, hear our cry, 

Hear thou, O Sole and equal Son, 
And holy Paraclete, on high, 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



96 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A MORNING HYMN 

Sol Salutis Intimis 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

OSUN of our salvation, rise, 
Illume our souls with light divine; 
Drive night and darkness from the skies, 
And let thy day of mercy shine. 

Grant that we may with streaming tears 
Wash from the heart all stain of sin, 

And freed from worldly joys and fears, 
Kindle the fire of love therein. 

Seal up the fount of sin, and bring 
The sigh of sorrow and the smart; 

So shall the rod of penance wring 

With softening grief the hardened heart. 

Thy day of glory comes; the glow 
Shall every hollow fill and height; 

And we rejoicing, Lord, shall go 
In safety, guided by thy light. 

Benignant Trinity, to thee 

The world shall bow; the weak and strong 
Shall call upon thy name; and we, 

Renewed in grace, lift up the song. 



B 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 97 

A LENTEN HYMN 

Audi, Benigne Conditor 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

ENIGN Creator of the spheres! 



Hear thou the prayers, behold the tears, 
That in this holy season we 
With Lenten fastings, pour to thee. 

Searcher of hearts, we seek thy throne, 
Man's feeble will to thee is known, 
We bow in grief and pardon crave, 
From error, Lord, thy suppliants save. 

Much have we sinned in deed and word, 
We bare our hearts before thee, Lord; 
Thy tender clemency we seek, 
Oh heal our wounded souls and weak. 

Grant that we may the body cleanse 
Of sinful stain through abstinence, 
May lift our fasting hearts to thee, 
From all defiling evils free. 

O tender Godhead, three in one! 
Be ours the will all crime to shun, 
To know and keep thy laws divine, 
And be the fruits of fasting thine. 



98 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN TO THE SAVIOUR 

Salvator Mund'i Domine 

DEAR Jesus, Saviour of the world, 
Our Saviour be to-day; 
Protect our hearts in darkness hurled, 
And guide us in thy way. 

Haste, tender Christ, our souls to bless; 

We bow before thy might; 
Blot from our lives all sinfulness; 

Be thou our beacon light. 

With thee for guide we fear no foe, 
No phantoms shall oppress; 

Our souls no sinful stain shall know, 
But (eel thy blessedness. 

We pray thee, Lord, our souls to raise, 

Our bosoms purify, 
That we may rise and sing thy praise 

In holy chastity. 

All glory to the Father be, 

All glory to the Son, 
And Holy Ghost, the same to thee 

While endless ages run. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 99 

EARLY MORNING HYMN 

Rerum Creator Optime 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

CREATOR of the earth and skies, 
Our blessed guide, we call on thee; 
Look down upon our miseries, 

From sin and sorrow make us free. 

Dear Christ, to thee we come for aid, 
Look not upon our faults, we pray; 

To thee our grateful thanks are paid 
Before the night has passed away. 

We lift our hearts and hands to thee, 
As prophet bade and Paul hath shown; 

While darkness yet holds land and sea 
We seek thee; hear our earnest moan. 

Thou see'st the evil we have done, 

Each deed before thee open lies; 
Thy pardon send, O Holy One! 

In pity heed our prayers and cries. 

Father of mercy, unto thee 

Be glory; to the sole-born Son 
And Spirit equal honour be, 

One God forever, three in one. 



100 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

A HYMN FOR LENT 

Ex More Docti Mystico 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

BY holy custom taught, we raise 
Our minds and hearts the Lord to serve, 
And through the space of forty days 
The fasts and laws of Lent observe. 

By ancient rule and prophet's word 
The sacred custom first was taught; 

And in the desert Christ the Lord 
The rite unto perfection brought. 

Be ours to practice temperance spare, 
In word, in food, in drink, in sleep; 

Our pleasures curb, while, bowed in prayer, 
A guard upon our wills we keep. 

And let us shun each evil thought 
That undermines the restless soul, 

And bring the tempter's power to nought 
By spirits bound in close control. 

We kneel before thee, Lord, and weep; 

Thine ire is just; our judge thou art; 
We cry with suppliant voice, and keep 

Our hope in thee, with humbled heart. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 10 1 

Our deeds insult thee, Lord of love; 

And yet thy clemency we seek; 
Pour forth thy mercy from above; 

Thou know'st our hearts, how base and weak. 

Remember, Father, we are thine, 

Preserve us from the stain of sin; 
Grant us to love thy name divine, 

To know thy law and dwell therein. 

Forgive the evil we have done; 

The blessing that we need, increase; 
Inflame our hearts all crime to shun, 

And keep our souls in endless peace. 

Honour be thine, Eternal Three, 

Thou single Godhead, just, benign, 
Let all our lives be turned to thee, 

And be the fruits of fasting thine. 



A HYMN FOR MATINS 

Tu Trinitatis Unitas 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

THOU triune God, eternal King, 
Almighty ruler of the spheres, 
Hark to the song of praise we bring, 

And hear and heed our psalms and tears. 



102 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

For we, arising out of sleep 
Amid the darkness of the night 

Beseech thee, Lord, our souls to keep, 
And heal our wounds with holy light. 

Whate'er of evil we have done 

Lured by the tempter's foul deceit, 

O wash away, thou Holy One, 
And bring us to thy mercy sweet. 

Lord, be our bodies chaste and pure, 
Thy love let every bosom feel, 

Keep thou our lives from sin secure, 
And fire our souls with holy zeal. 

For this, Redeemer, thee we seek, 
For this we call thee in the night; 

Uplift and help, for we are weak, 
And guide us by thy heavenly light. 

Father of mercy, hear our prayer, 
And thou, O sole-begotten Son, 

And Holy Spirit, yield thy care, 
Eternal Godhead, three in one. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT IO3 

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN 

Primo Die Quo Trinitas 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

THIS day the blessed Trinity 
Upbuilded by creative word 
The earth; this day the risen Lord 
O'er death a victor, made us free. 
Then casting off all lethargy, 
Arise and sing in sweet accord; 
While yet 'tis night be God adored — 
The prophet bids, — so let it be. 

Seek we the Lord in humble prayer, 

That he may stretch his hand and save, 

And lift each soul above the grave, 
The living joys of heaven to share; 
With hymns and orisons prepare, 

Ere yet the dawn is on the wave; 

Sing out the praise of him that gave 
All blessed gifts, and crave his care. 

Yea, now, O Fount of living light, 

Thy tender guidance we require; 

Keep from our hearts the fleshly fire, 
And lead us from the deeds that blight. 
Oh be our bodies in thy sight 

So purified from foul desire, 

That, all appeased thy righteous ire, 
Thou bring us to thy holy height. 



104 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Redeemer of the world, thou Sun 

Of justice, thee do we entreat; 

Oh wash our hearts from stain complete, 
And be our souls to glory won! 
To God the Father and the Son 

Be praise and love and glory meet, 

And unto thee, O Paraclete, 
Eternal Godhead, three in one. 

AT MATINS 

JSfocte Surgentes 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

FROM slumber's bonds, before the day, 
Uprising, let us watch and pray; 
Let all on psalm and sacred word 
Now meditate, and in accord 
Praise God with consecrated lay. 

So, joining with the choirs on high, 

The songs shall sound through earth and sky, 

In praise of our eternal King; 

O Father! let thy mercy bring 
Our souls to endless ecstasy. 

Be with us, Lord, by day and night, 
The Father's Godhead, power and might, 

So of the sole-begotten Son 

And Holy Ghost; as ages run 
One praise shall fill the world with light. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT I05 

AT MATINS 1 

(Another Version) 

RISE we, now, ere dawn, and begin our watching, 
Lift our hearts in psalms, and in meditation; 
And with voices tuned to the Lord, in music 
Sing his sweet anthems. 

Let us join our songs with the choirs supernal, 
In unending praise to the King of mercy, 
So our souls may come to the halls of splendour 
Shining eternal. 

Be thou blessed, O God, in thy might tremendous, 
Spirit, Sire and Son, thou art God eternal, 
One forevermore; let thy praise and glory 
Sound through the ages. 



AT DAYBREAK 

Ecce Jam JSfoctis 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

LO, now the shadows of the night 
Are passing by; the changing light 
Purples the skies of morn; and we 
Our suppliant voices lift to thee 
In Prayer and song, O God of might! 

1 In the Sapphics of the original. 



106 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Let all thy mercies, Lord, increase 
Upon our erring hearts; surcease 
Of sorrow bring; and make us free 
From sin and shame and misery, 
And grant us everlasting peace. 

Unto the Father glory raise 
With love and joy, in hymns of praise; 
So to the sole-begotten Son, 
And Holy Spirit, three in one, 
Resounding to the end of days. 



AT DAYBREAK 1 

(Another Version) 

LO, the night goes by with its gloomy shadows, 
And the skies grow fair in the light of morning, 
Lord, we come to thee and our suppliant voices 
Lift up before thee. 

Be thy mercy shown to our feeble nature, 
Sin and shame and woe from our bosoms banish; 
Everlasting peace, in thy halls of splendour, 
Grant us, O Saviour. 

Be thou with us, Lord, and be thine all glory, 
God eternal, Sire, with the Son and Spirit, 
Heaven and earth shall ring with unending praises 
Down through the ages. 

1 In the Sapphics of the original. 



ST. GREGORY THE GREAT IO7 

A HYMN FOR PENTECOST 

Veni Creator Spiritus 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

COME, Spirit of the mighty word, 
We need thy presence and thy aid; 
Be thy supernal graces poured 

Into the breasts which thou hast made. 

Well art thou called the Paraclete, 

Thy mercies comfort and condole, 
The fount of life, the love, the heat, 

The soothing unction of the soul. 

Bearer of sevenfold blessedness, 

Finger of God to guide and teach, 
Shedding from heaven the promised grace, 

Enriching tongues with holy speech; 

Kindle our senses with thy light, 

Thy love into our bosoms pour, 
Sustain each weakness with thy might, 

And raise our souls forevermore. 

Drive from our path the evil one; 

Bring gentle peace to crown our day; 
With thee before us leading on, 

We shall not into error stray. 



108 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Grant, that we may the Father know, 
And feel the love of Christ the Son, 

Through thee; and in thy holy glow 
Forever see the Three in one. 

Be glory to the Father given, 
And to the risen Son, and thee, 

O Holy Ghost; let earth and heaven 
Ring with one praise eternally. 



EUGENIUS 

The date of birth of Eugenius is not definitely known. 
It is believed to have occurred in the later part of the 
sixth century. He was a theologian of note, and counted 
among the most learned men of his age. At the time 
of his death in 657, he was archbishop of Toledo, which 
See he had held for twelve years. 

He was a prelate of eminent sanctity and the author 
of several pious epigrams. His most noted poetical 
production was called the "Hexaemeron," being a de- 
scription of the six days of creation. 

The following poem is now translated for the first 
time into English. It is valuable, not only for certain 
poetical merits, which it possesses, but as a good ex- 
pression of the ideal of a Christian gentleman and scholar 
of the early years of Christianity. I have attempted 
to imitate the hexameters of the original. 



109 



THE PRAYER OF EUGENIUS 
Rex Deus, Immensi 

MONARCH of infinite majesty, Maker and Lord 
of creation, 
Feeble and vile at thy feet I dare to implore thee for 
favours; — 



Give me the vigour to govern my will like a king in his 
kingdom; 

Soften my spirit with kindness, and open my mind to 
thy glory; 

Let me live in thy faith, all sects and falsehoods resisting, 

Make me in deed and desire a servant worthy thy ser- 
vice. 

Grant that love may be mine; make me truthful, humble 

and prudent; 
Silent when wisdom requires, and always cautious in 

language. 
Bless me with faithful companions, with friendships 

fast and enduring, 
And with a servant chaste and kind and careful and 

willing. 

Give me not over to poverty's pains, nor to languor's 
allurements; 



112 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Only the needful I crave, but health as a constant com- 
panion. 

Keep me from riches and envy; from arrogance, quarrel 
and law suits, 

Gluttony's foul desires, and luxury's gratifications. 

No one by crime let me harm, from no one by crime 

let me suffer, — 
Let not my will from justice turn, nor my thoughts 

toward evil; 
Nothing unworthy be found in will or in word or in 

action; 
Utterance, spirit and deed, let them sing thee, desire 

thee and show thee; 

Grant, I beseech, such power, as shall overcome all 

temptation, 
While in the race of life my running shall gain me the 

trophy. 
Then when the hour of death shall come, and my spirit 

soars upward, 
Let thy mercy awake, and bless me, O Lord, with thy 

pardon. 

Glory be thine forever, of heaven and earth the creator, 
Triune God that reignest, alone over all through the 
ages. 



PAUL THE DEACON 

Paul was born in Italy in 735, and died in 798. He 
was known as a historian and a poet, and was one of 
the learned men whom Charlemagne invited to aid him 
in establishing the great school of the Emperor's palace. 

His famous hymn on St. John the Baptist has been 
divided in the Roman Breviary into the following three, 
for Vespers, Matins and Lauds. 

This hymn is noted as having afforded Guido of Ar- 
rezzo the names of the notes of the musical scale. 

The hymn was a great favourite in the Middle Ages. 
It was thought that its recitation would induce pure 
musical tones. 



113 



VESPER HYMN TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 

Ut Queant Laxis 

AS we thy servants will to bring 
Thy deeds before the world and sing 
Thy name, St. John, as should be sung, 
Cleanse thou the lips and loose the tongue, 
That so thy praise may fitly ring. 

When Gabriel from God's presence came, 

And stood before the altar flame, 
With tidings of thy coming birth 
And of thy deeds of heavenly worth, 

He brought from God thy holy name. 

Thy Father's faith was sorely wrung; 

Doubting the message tied his tongue; 
And dumb, till past thy natal hour, 
Thy name restored his vocal power, 

And filled his soul with flowing song. 

While closed within thy mother's womb 
Thou didst perceive the Christ to come, 

And give thy mother to disclose 

The unborn King, ere yet he rose 
To wrest the world from death and doom. 



Il6 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN FOR MATINS 

Antra Deserti 

FOR years thy spirit found it well 
Within a desert cave to dwell, 
To fly the crowds, that so no vain 
Or evil deed thy life should stain, 
Nor idle thought thy tongue should tell. 

Thy limbs were clothed in camel's hair, 
A leathern girdle didst thou wear, 
Thy drink was water from the flood, 
And the wild honey of the wood, 
With the shrill locust, all thy fare. 

The prophets sang, in sacred lay, 
The brightness of the coming day; 
Thy soul the glory saw, and calm 
Proclaimed the presence of the Lamb, 
Who came to bear our sins away. 

The world shall ever sing thy worth, 
Great Saint; it knows no holier birth 

Than thine, whose hands the water poured 
Upon the forehead of thy Lord, 
The Lamb of God, who cleansed the earth. 

All glory to the Father be 
And sole-begotten Son, to thee, 



PAUL THE DEACON llj 

While to the Holy Ghost we raise 
An equal meed of love and praise, 
One God, one rule, eternally. 



HYMN FOR LAUDS 

Nimis Felix 

GREAT Saint, thy worth is heavenly high; 
No stain is on thy purity; 
Most potent martyr, lo, we bring 
The seemly song of praise, and sing 
With voices sounding to the sky. 

Of crowns thrice ten the angels weave 
For other martyrs; some receive 

A double glory; but to thee 

Three hundred shining wreaths shall be 
Of fruit and flower, in sacred sheaf. 

Enrich our souls with strength, we pray; 

Pluck from our breasts all faults away; 
O, smooth our rugged road, and be 
Our guide, that we the light may see 

Across the hills, of God's white day. 

So through thy prayers the Lord shall bless 
And light our souls with holiness, 

Shall lift our heavy hearts, and deign 
To wash away all worldly stain, 
In the clear fountain of his grace. 



Il8 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Now, with the heavenly choirs we raise 
To thee, O Trinity, all praise, 

We bow in prayer before thy throne, 
Redeem and save us, Holy One, 
And fill with light our lonely ways. 



ST. PAULINUS OF AQUILEIA 

One of the most illustrious and holy prelates of the 
eighth century, St. Paulinus, was born about the year 
726, in a country farm not far from Friuli, and died 
in Aquileia, January 11, 804, although his feast is held 
in some places on January 28. 

He was one of the saintly and learned men whom 
Charlemagne invited to assist in building up his great 
school of the Palace. 

He was appointed in 776 as Patriarch of Aquileia, 
which dignity had then but recently been annexed to 
that See. 

He was honoured by Charlemagne with the titles 
"Master of Grammar," and "Very Venerable," and the 
Emperor required his presence at all his great councils. 

The Church has adapted in the Roman Breviary the 
fourth stanza of the following hymn for the feast of 
St. Peter's chains, and the fifth stanza for the feast of 
St. Peter's chair at Rome. 



119 



THE APOSTLES, PETER AND PAUL 

Felix Per Omnes Festum 

THROUGH earth's wide bounds the honoured festival 
Of blessed Peter and of Holy Paul 
Is kept in happy memory, and maintained 
To grace whom Christ's redeeming blood ordained 
Among the apostles princes over all. 

Two olives they on God's eternal height, 

Two candlesticks that gleam with heavenly light, 

Resplendent stars that glorify the skies; 

The words that ope the gates of Paradise, 
And break the bonds of sin by gentle might. 

Their word has power to close the golden bar, 
Or bare the thresholds, where the angels are; 

Their tongues are keys that guard the golden light 
Of God's high justice; they uphold the right, 
And drive all falsehood from the earth afar. 

Peter most wondrously, at Christ's command, 
The iron fetters broke from foot and hand, 
And so came forth, defender of the fold, 
The teacher of God's people, calm and bold, 
A tower of strength to guard the little band. 



122 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Whate'er on earth he bindeth, by decree 
Is bound among the stars eternally; 

And what his will shall loose on earth, behold! 

'Tis loosed forever in the halls of gold; 
The judge of all the ages he shall be. 

No less in glory is the teacher Paul, 
Who, persecuting, heard the Saviour call; 
Lamps of the Church, and equal in renown, 
Partners in death, and sharers of one crown, 
Amid the skies their light surpasseth all. 

O Happy Rome! that art empurpled by 
The precious blood of princes; thou canst vie 
In beauty with the world; not by thine own, 
But by their merits, is thy glory known, 
Whose blessed bones beneath thy pavement lie. 

O blessed Peter, and O Paul, the flower 
Of earth, triumphant chiefs in holy power, 
Look on the world in pity, heed our cares, 
Protect us from all evil by your prayers; 
Guide and uplift us to the heavenly tower. 

Unto the Sire eternal praises sing, 
And let the chorus to the Son outring, 

And to the Holy Spirit, one in three; 

An everlasting song of glory be 
To God the everlasting Lord and King. 



THEODULPHUS 

Theodulphus was educated in the school of the 
Palace of Charlemagne, and according to the custom 
of that age, and particularly of that school, assumed, for 
himself the title of Pindar. This was on account of 
his supposed lyric power. 

He became bishop of Orleans about the first part of 
the ninth century and died while occupying that See 
in 821. 

For some reason, which does not clearly appear, he 
is said to have been confined for a time by Louis the 
Debonair, son and successor of Charlemagne, in a prison 
at Angers, during which time the following hymn is 
said to have been written. The story states that the 
Bishop sang the new hymn from his dungeon window 
as the emperor was passing to the Cathedral on Palm 
Sunday, in the year 821, and that as a result the bishop 
was liberated from his captivity. 

The hymn is still used in the church as a processional 
hymn on Palm Sunday. 



m 



HYMN FOR PALM SUNDAY 

Gloria, Laus et Honor 

ALL glory, praise and honour 
To thee, O Christ, we bring, 
And sing like Sion's children, 
Hozannas to our King. 

For thou art King, Lord Jesus, 

Of David's royal line, 
And blest are all who serve thee 

And call thy name divine. 

The saints and holy angels 

Exalt in heaven thy name, 
And men on earth forever 

Thy glory shall proclaim. 

As came the Jews to meet thee 

With palms upon the way, 
So we with prayerful voices 

Lift up our songs to-day. 

As they loud praises paid thee 

Upon the road of pain, 
So we with sounding music 

Salute thy endless reign. 
i*5 



126 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

As their devotion pleased thee, 
So be our offering, — 

The song, the prayer, the praises, 
We bring thee, gentle King. 



RABANUS MAURUS 

One of the most learned and holy men of his age, 
Rabanus Maurus was born in Germany about the year 
800. 

While Abbot of Fulda, he made that house the great- 
est nursery of science in Europe. 

He was Archbishop of Mentz from 847 to 856, when he 
died on February 4, on which day his name appears in 
certain private German martyrologies, though he has 
never been publicly honored among the saints. 

Most of the hymns for the feasts of saints and angels 
are believed to have been composed by Rabanus. All 
the following hymns are found in the Roman Breviary. 



127 



VESPER HYMN FOR ALL SAINTS 

Placare Christe Servulis 

O SOOTHE thy servants' woes, and bring 
Our souls to thee, most clement King; 
We seek before thy mercy seat 
The Virgin's intercession sweet. 

And ye, O blessed ones, who move 
In circles near the throne of love, 
Shield us from all iniquity, 
Or past, or present, or to be. 

Ye prophets and apostles, hear; 

Lift up before the Judge severe 

Our tearful prayers, and give your voice, 

That he may bid our souls rejoice. 

Ye noble martyrs of the Lord, 
And white-robed preachers of the word, 
Behold us exiled, bowed in gloom; 
Oh guide us to our heavenly home. 

Ye holy bands of virgins chaste, 
And godly dwellers of the waste, 
Now glorified with God, look down, 
And help us to the heavenly crown. 

129 



130 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Lord save us from the poisonous breath 
Of heresy, that bringeth death; 
So all thy people, joined as one, 
Shall bow before thy heavenly throne. 

To God the Father glory be, 
And sole-begotten Son to thee, 
And to the Spirit, three in one 
While everlasting ages run. 



MORNING HYMN FOR ALL SAINTS 

Salutis Aeterne Dator 

O SAVIOUR, Fount of heavenly life, 
Assist us in our earthly strife; 
Thou pitying Virgin, hear our cries, 
And raise us from our miseries. 

Angelic hosts our needs attend; 

Ye holy patriarchs, defend; 

Ye choirs of prophets, by your prayers, 

Protect us from unholy snares. 

Herald of Christ, we call on thee; 
And thou that hold'st the golden key; 
Apostles all, your voice we claim, 
Dissolve the bonds of sin and shame. 

Triumphant martyrs of the Lord; 
Ye holy preachers of the word; 



RABANUS MAURUS I3I 

And virgins chaste; to you we pray; 
Wash all our sinful stains away. 

All ye among the halls of heaven, 
To whom the light of love is given, 
In pity hear our cries, — that we 
The glory of God's face may see. 

All praise and honour, power and love 
To God the Sire who rules above, 
Unto the Son like glory be 
And Holy Ghost eternally. 



HYMN TO THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL 

T ibi Christe Splendor Patris 

JESUS, unto thee, the splendour 
Of the Father's face, we sing; 
Mighty, meek, forgiving, tender, 

All our hope from thee we bring; 
Praise with angel choirs we render, 
Glad hozannas to our King. 

Voicing songs of veneration, 

All the heavenly chiefs we praise, 

Lift our hymns in loud laudation; 
But to Raphael we upraise 

Special love and jubilation, 

Guide and friend from ancient days. 



132 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

By his care be darkness driven 

From our souls, with sin and shame; 

Light our bosoms, Lord, from heaven, 
Cleanse us by thy purging flame; 

So by tender love forgiven, 

God shall be our home and aim. 

Then with psalm and song sonorous, 
Praise the Sire from shore to shore; 

Praise alike in swelling chorus 
Son and Spirit evermore; 

While with cross upraised before us 
We one living God adore. 



HYMN TO THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL 

1 e Splendor et Virtus Pains 

THEE the Father's power and splendour, 
Jesus, thee we praise in song, 
Bless thy name, O Shepherd tender, 
Joining with the angel throng. 

'Mid the myriad host before thee, 

Ranged along the radiant sky, 
Michael holds the cross of glory, 

Our salvation's hope, on high. 

By that sign he drives in terror 
Satan and his godless powers, 



RABANUS MAURUS I33 

All the rebel ranks of error, 

Headlong from the heavenly towers. 

Blessed Michael, be our leader, 

In our war on sin and pride; 
Be with Christ our interceder, 

That the crown be not denied. 

Glory to the Father ever, 

Glory to the sole-born Son, 
Glory to the Spirit; never 

Cease the song while ages run. 



O JESUS, JOY OF ANGEL CHOIRS 

Cbrtste, Sanctorum Decus 

O JESUS, joy of angel choirs, 
Thou Sire and Saviour of the race, 
Illume our souls with pure desires, 
And lead us heavenward by thy grace. 

Let Michael, messenger of peace, 
Visit our temples, day and night; 

For in his presence wars shall cease 
And love shall fill the world with light. 

Let Gabriel's arm of flame and power 
Protect us from the ancient foe, 

And be to us a shielding tower 
To guard us in our strife below. 



134 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Let blessed Raphael's healing hand 
Uplift us; him we need and seek 

To guide us to the heavenly land, 

To raise the faint and nerve the weak. 

And Virgin Mother of the Light, 

Thou hope of souls, thou heavenly Queen, 

Assist us by thy gentle might 

And light us home in rays serene. 

So God shall heed and help our needs, 
The Sire, the sole-begotten Son, 

And Spirit who from both proceeds, 
Forever reigning three in one. 



HYMN FOR THE APOSTLES 

Exultet Orhis Gaudiis 

LET all the world exult in song, 
Let praises through the heavens ring, 
Let earth and skies the hymn prolong, 
The great apostles' glory sing. 

Ye judges of the centuries, 

And beacons of the world, we dare 

Appeal to you on bended knees, 

Oh, heed and hear our suppliant prayer. 

O ye, whose word may close or ope 
The sacred temple of the Lord, 



RABANUS MAURUS 135 

Restore our souls with heavenly hope, 
And break the chain of sin abhorred. 

Both life and death your will obey, 

At your command all evils fly; 
From our frail hearts take guilt away, 

And frame our lives with love on high. 

So when at last the Christ shall come 
To judge the world, our deeds may be 

Worthy to make his heaven our home, 
Co-heirs with you eternally. 

Unto the Father glory be, 

And equal glory to the Son, 
The same, O Paraclete to thee, 

One God, while endless ages run. 



HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF A CONFESSOR 

Jesu Redemptor Omnium 

JESUS, Redeemer of mankind 
And crown of guides who lead for thee, 
Turn on our souls thy glances kind; 
We ask thy love on bended knee. 

Lord, thy confessor's holy fame, 
Whose solemn feast we keep to-day, 

Still glorifies thy sacred name; 

Through him our vows to thee we pay. 



I36 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

No earthly joys he sought or won, 

Pleasures he spurned as things of nought, 

He prized thy tender love alone, 

Thy heavenly light was all he sought. 

Send us, dear Lord, thy rays sublime 
That we his beaten path may see; 

And purged from every stain of crime, 
May find our endless home with thee. 

Christ, King of love, be glory meet 
To God the Father and to thee, 

And to the Spirit Paraclete, 
Now and through all eternity. 



HYMN FOR A CONFESSOR 

Iste Confessor Domini 

THE people thy confessor praise to-day, 
Lord, over all the world, and tributes bring; 
This day he rose to walk the heavenly way, 
Where angels sing. 

Meek, prudent, humble, modest on the earth, 

A sober life he led without a stain; 
He lived for thee, O Lord; his deeds of worth 

For thee remain. 

The sick and dying, through his holy hand, 
Were oft upraised to health by thee, O Lord; 



RABANUS MAURUS I37 

And suffering ones to-day from every land, 
Are still restored. 

And so we sing our choiring songs of praise, 
We bring our palms to crown his holy day; 

And beg that for our needs he may upraise 
His voice and pray. 

All honour, power and glory let us sing 
Unto the living God who reigns alone; 

Ruler of all the worlds, the Lord, the King, 
The three in one. 

In case the day celebrated is not the day of the Saint's death, the following 
may be sung instead of the third and fourth lines of the first stanza: 

Unto his honour lift the joyous lay, 
And praises sing. 



NOTKER 

A native of northern Switzerland, Notker Balbulus 
was born about 840, and died in 912 on the sixth of 
April, on which day he is commemorated as a saint in 
the monastery of St. Gall, where he had been one of 
the most noted followers of the founder of that great 
house. 

He compiled a life of St. Gall in verse, and left a 
martyrology, chiefly collected from Rabanus Maurus 
and St. Odo of Cluny. 

He was a man of gentle and contemplative nature, 
accustomed to find spiritual and poetical suggestions 
in the common sights around him. 

His name is chiefly important in the history of eccle- 
siastical music as the inventor of sequences, which may 
be regarded as marking the beginning of the later medi- 
aeval epoch of Latin hymnody. The Notkerian se- 
quence is, in form, a rhythmical prose something like 
the psalms of David. 

The sequence was a chant of praise to be sung be- 
tween the epistle and the gospel at the Mass. 

One of the best known and most remarkable of the 
Notkerian sequences, is that brief antiphon, translated 
in the burial service of the Episcopal Book of Common 
Prayer, "In the midst of life we are in death." 

The following selection, ranked as one of the seven 
139 



140 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

great hymns, is a good example of the Notkerian se- 
quence. It has been attributed by some writers to 
Gotschalk, another monk of St. Gall, who died in 950. 
It is known as the "Alleluiatic Chorus," or the "Alle- 
luiatic Sequence. " 



THE ALLELUIATIC SEQUENCE 

Cantemus Cuncti 

COME, let us all sing out the song of praise, 
Swelling in thanks to our eternal Lord, 

Alleluia! 
Let the rejoicing choirs of heaven unite, 
And lift their golden voices to the strain, 

Alleluia! 
Sounding along the fields of Paradise 
Shall ring the music of the blessed throngs, 

Alleluia! 
The jubilee of everlasting stars 
Shall give their shining answer to the song, 

Alleluia! 
Let cloud, wind, lightning and the rolling thunder, 
Mingle their tones in solemn harmony, 

Alleluia! 
River and ocean, rain and gale and calm, 
Summer and winter, field and grove shall sing, 

Alleluia! 
The birds of every plumage first shall raise 
Loud praises to their Maker in sweet songs, 

Alleluia! 
Then all the beasts shall lift their various voices, 
And give eternal answer to the praises, 

Alleluia! 
i 4 i 



142 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Thou, too, O deep of ocean, shout in joy, 
Nor silent, you, ye continents, remain, 

Alleluia! 
Let every man exulting, sing sweet psalms, 
While thanks unending rise to God on high, 

Alleluia! 
So as we shout the canticles of joy, 
The praise shall bring delight unto his ear, 

Alleluia! 
And so the heavenly tunes that we upraise 
Be pleasing to the Saviour's tender heart, 

Alleluia! 
Then, brethren, lift your voices and rejoice, 
And you, ye little children, answer forth, 

Alleluia! 
Now to the Father Alleluia sing, 
To Jesus Alleluia, and the Spirit, 

Alleluia! 
Sing praises to the eternal Trinity, 
Sing in the cleansing baptism of the Lord, 

Alleluia! 



ST. ODO OF CLUNY 

The son of a nobleman of the first rank, Odo was born 
at Tours in 879, and from his childhood was much given 
to piety and prayer. At nineteen years of age he received 
the tonsure, and from that time he put away learning 
and devoted himself to religious exercises. 

He was admitted to the monastic habit by S. Berno, 
Abbot of Beaume, in 909. The monastery of Beaume 
stands in a lonely spot among barren rocks at a great 
height. The great Abbey of Cluny was founded by 
William, Count of Auvergne, in 910, and placed in the 
care of St. Berno. 

In 927 St. Odo was made abbot of the three monas- 
teries of Cluny, Massay and Deols. He made his res- 
idence at Cluny, where the reputation of his sanctity 
and discipline drew to his house many illustrious men. 

He died at Tours November 18, 942. 



H3 



FOR ST. MARY MAGDALENE 

Summi Parentis Unice 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

JESUS, sole son of God most high, 
Look on our souls with pitying eye, 
Thou who didst call the Magdalene 
To holy love and light serene. 

The coin that had been lost and mourned, 
Is to the treasure house returned; 
New-found and cleansed, thy gem divine 
Now fairer than the stars outshine. 

Oh, balm of every wounded heart, 
The sorrowing sinner's hope thou art; 
Dear Jesus, by sad Mary's tears, 
Wash out our sins and chase our fears. 

Mother of God, our prayers receive, 
All weak and weeping sons of Eve; 
Calm by thy word the waves of strife, 
And guide us to the port of life. 

Be love and glory evermore 
To the sole God whom all adore, 
Who heals us by his plenteous grace 
And lifts us to his holy place. 

H5 



ROBERT I., KING OF FRANCE 

Son and successor of Hugh Capet, Robert I. was born 
at Orleans in 971, and died at Melun in 103 1. He is 
sometimes, but improperly, cited as Robert II., the first 
of that name being taken to mean Robert, duke of France, 
who died in 923. In history he is surnamed the Pious. 

While wholly different from his warlike father, he 
lacked neither physical advantages nor moral virtues. 
He was said to be versed in all the sciences, a good phi- 
losopher, an excellent musician, and so devoted to sacred 
literature that he never passed a day without reading 
the Psalter. 

He composed several hymns, which he set to music 
and deposited upon the altar of St. Peter, while on a 
pilgrimage to Rome. 

The following hymn, which is sung in the Mass for 
Whitsuntide, is known as the "Golden Sequence," and 
represents the transition from the rhythmical prose of 
Notker to the metrical form. It is one of the most 
popular of the hymns of the Middle Ages, and has a 
place among the seven great hymns. 



147 



HYMN FOR WHITSUNDAY 
Vent Sancte Spiritus 

HOLY Spirit, come and shine 
On our souls with light divine, 
Warm us with thy rays of love; 
Come, O Father of the poor, 
Make thy gifts to man secure, 
Fire our bosoms from above. 

Tender Comforter and best, 
Of the soul most precious guest, 

Soother of all trembling fears, 
Rest for labour's wearing strains, 
Temperer of burning pains, 

Solace to the soul in tears. 

Holy radiance, most benign! 
Into every bosom shine 

With the blessed light of faith; 
Without thy divinity 
Nothing good in man can be, 

All is dark and worthy death. 

Wash away whate 'er is vile, 
Make our souls like gardens smile, 
Heal all bitter wounds, we pray; 
149 



150 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Bend our stubborn wills to thine, 
Melt our souls with love divine, 
Guide us lest we go astray. 

All thy sevenfold gifts impart 
Unto every faithful heart 

Meekly trusting in thy love; 
Grant that without sin or stain 
We a holy death may gain, 

And eternal joy above. 



HERMANN CONTRACTUS 

The son of the Swabian Count Wolfrat of Voringen, 
Hermann was born in 1013, and died in 1054. He was 
surnamed Contractus, or the Lame, on account of a 
physical defect. 

Educated at the monastery of Reichenau, and after- 
ward admitted as a member of the fraternity, he added 
greatly to the reputation of that house, which had been 
noted for its learning from the time of St. Berno. 

He is famous as a chronicler of his time. He also 
devoted himself to mathematics and music, and con- 
structed watches and instruments of various kinds. 
He wrote a number of hymns, besides producing a 
didactic poem on "The eight chief vices." 

The "Alma Redemptoris" and the beautiful anthem 
"Salve Regina," found in the Roman Breviary, are his, 
although the last words of the latter were added by 
St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Vesper hymn, "Ave 
Regina Coelorum," is probably of a later period. 



'5 1 



VESPER HYMN TO THE VIRGIN 

Alma Redemptoris Mater 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

MOTHER of majesty, 
God's love adorning, 
Thou that hast oped for man 

Heaven's high door, 
Star of the ocean wave, 
Gate of the morning, 
Look on our wanderings, 
Thee we implore. 

Born without stain of sin, 

Formed for the Holy, 
Gabriel's Ave still 

Rises to thee. 
Virgin and Mother pure, 

Tender and lowly, 
Hear us and plead for us, 

Bowed at thy knee. 

A VESPER PSALM 

Salve Re gin a 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

HAIL, holy queen, 
Mother of Mercy sweet, 
Life of our souls, 

i53 



154 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Our hope, our refuge be; 
Children of Eve, 

Bending at thy dear feet, 
Out of the gloom, 

Tearful we cry to thee. 

Born without stain, 

Plead for our souls we pray, 
Turn unto us 

Thy pitying eyes of love; 
So while our lives 

Pass from the earth away, 
Bring thou our souls 

Safe to thy Son above. 

O clement Maid, 

Merciful advocate, 
Virgin, most sweet, 

Hear thou our constant prayer, 
Thee do we call, 

Thou that art heaven's gate, 
Lift up our hearts, 

Save us from sin and care. 



HERMANN CONTRACTUS 1 55 

VESPER HYMN 

Ave Regina Coelorum 

HAIL, thou Virgin Queen of Heaven, 
Mistress unto Angels given, 
Root of Jesse, golden portal, 
Whence was poured the light immortal. 

Holy Virgin, high in glory, 
Heaven and earth shall sing thy story, 
Heed us, mother, bowed before thee, 
Plead with Jesus, we implore thee. 



PIERRE ABELARD 

Pierre Abelard, philosopher, theologian and monk, 
was born near Nantes in 1079. 

His false doctrines were condemned in the Council 
of Soissons in 1121 and in the Council of Sens in 1140. 
He died in the Abbey of St. Marcel in 1142. 



157 



THE EVERLASTING SABBATH 

O Quanta Qualia 

OWHAT a blessed state 
Is that sweet Sabbath-time 
Which the saints celebrate, 

High in the halls sublime, 
There, for the weary, rest, 

There for the brave, reward, 
Comes to the spirits blest, 
Where they enjoy the Lord. 

Who is the monarch there ? 

What court and Kingly throne ? 
What peace untouched by care, 

What wondrous joy is shown ? 
O could those souls above 

Bring these before our eyes, 
Raised upon wings of love 

We would the world despise. 

Truly Jerusalem 

Call we that blessed shore, 
Vision of peace, its name, 

Glorious evermore. 
Wish and fulfilment there 

Ever in mercy meet; 
iS9 



l6o EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Instant the soul in prayer 
Finds her reward complete. 

There from all finite ills 

Riseth the spirit free, 
Singing o'er Sion's hills 

One endless jubilee; 
And everlastingly 

Thanks for the gifts of grace 
Thy people bring to thee, 

Lord in thy dwelling place. 

There an unending day 

Shines for all souls at rest; 
Glories ne'er pass away; 

Young are those spirits blest. 
Ceaseless the holy song 

Choirs of the ransomed sing; 
We too shall join the throng, 

Praising the Lord our King. 

Ours is the duty now 

Upward our souls to raise, 
Low at God's altar bow, 

Seek him through love and praise. 
And to Jerusalem 

From this far Babylon, 
Turn with increasing flame, 

God's peace to look upon. 



PIERRE ABELARD l6l 

Praises eternal bloom, 

God, for thy garland fair, 
Through whom, and out of whom 

And in whom all things are. 
From whom — is God the Sire 

Through whom — is God the Son, 
In whom — the Heavenly Fire — 

Three and forever one. 



THE EVERLASTING SABBATH 

(Another Version) 

OWHAT a blessed station, 
Sweet goal of all desires, 
That everlasting Sabbath 

Among the heavenly choirs. 
There rest comes to the weary, 

And to the brave, reward; 
For there the ransomed spirits 
Enjoy their living Lord. 

Who reigneth there as monarch ? 

What court and Kingly throne, 
What peace untouched by sorrow, 

What wondrous joy is shown ? 
O, could the holy angels 

Bring these before our eyes, 
On wings of love borne upward, 

Our souls would earth despise. 



1 62 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Jerusalem, most truly 

We call that blessed shore; 
Of peace it shines a vision 

In glory evermore. 
The wish and its fulfilment 

Meet instant in the prayer, 
Desiring and its object 

Come both together there. 

There from all finite evils 

The spirit riseth free, 
And o'er the hills of Sion 

Keeps heavenly jubilee. 
Lord, everlasting praises 

And thanks for gifts of grace 
Rise from thy ransomed people 

Through all thy dwelling place. 

There one unending Sabbath 

Shines out for souls at rest; 
The glow of youth forever 

Adorns the spirits blest. 
A holy song and ceaseless 

The angel choirs outsing, — 
O, we shall join that singing, 

And praise the Lord, our King. 

But here it is our duty 

Our souls to fire and raise; 
To bow before God's altar 



PIERRE ABELARD 163 

And sing his love and praise; 
And toward the heavenly Sion, 

From this far Babylon, 
Turn home, like weary exiles, 

God's peace to look upon. 

Let everlasting glory 

To God eternal rise 
For whom, through whom, and in whom 

Are earth and sea and skies; 
From whom — is God the Father, 

Through whom — is God the Son, 
In whom — is God the Spirit, 

Forever Three in One. 



ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX 

The son of noble Burgundian parents, Bernard was 
born at Fontaines, a castle near Dijon, in 1091. His 
mother, a woman of great piety, consecrated him to 
the service of the Church as soon as he was born, and 
from that day considered him as not belonging to her 
but to God. 

In 1 1 13 Bernard with his brothers and nearly thirty 
other noblemen and gentlemen, who were led by his 
example, entered the monastery of Citeaux, and as- 
sumed the monastic habit in the following year. 

On account of the great progress he had made in the 
spiritual life, Bernard was appointed abbot, and ordered 
to go with twelve monks, among whom were his brothers, 
to found a new house in the diocese of Langres. They 
walked in procession, singing psalms, with the new 
abbot leading, and settled in a desert called the Valley 
of Wormwood. 

With wonderful skill and industry the new monastery 
was established; and in a short time the reputation of 
the house and of the sanctity of the abbot became so 
great that the number of monks in it amounted to one 
hundred and twenty, and the people changed the name 
of the place to Clairvaux, or the Valley of Light. This 
famous monastery was founded in 11 15. 

St. Bernard was particularly devoted to the Blessed 
165 



1 66 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Virgin. In one of his missions into Germany, in the 
great church at Spire, he repeated as in a rapture, "O 
Clemens! O Pia, O Dulcis Virgo Maria!" and these 
words the church added to the anthem "Salve Regina." 

As to his poetical writings St. Bernard has been called 
the father, in Latin hymnody, of that warm and passion- 
ate form of devotion which seems to apply the language 
of human affection to divine objects. This tendency 
has become very popular both in Catholic and Protes- 
tant churches. 

Erasmus characterizes St. Bernard as "cheerful, 
pleasant and vehement in moving the passions." He 
is counted among the ablest doctors of the church. 
After a life of wonderful activity and good works he 
died on August 20, 1153, and was buried before Our 
Lady's altar at Clairvaux. 

The following hymns are all taken from a poem of 
fifty four-line stanzas. The first three are used in the 
Roman Breviary for the office of the most Holy Name 
of Jesus, the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The last 
hymn is an entirely new cento. 



VESPER HYMN TO JESUS 

Jesu Dulcis Memoria 

JESUS, thy memory divine 
To every heart is heavenly wine; 
But sweetness more than sweetest things 
Thy presence in the bosom brings. 

Such gladness ne'er hath poet sung, 
Such joy ne'er pleasured ear or tongue, 
To man no dream, so sweet e'er came, 
Dear Son of God, as thy blest name. 

True hope of all repenting hearts, 
What tender joy thy love imparts! 
Thou givest thy seekers here below 
Such bliss as only they can know. 

O Lord, if we but claim thy love, 
Our souls are lighted from above, 
And feel such wondrous happiness 
As tongue or pen can ne'er express. 

Be still our joy and stay, dear Lord, 
Our guide, our hope, our sweet reward; 
Let praise and love and glory be 
Sung to thy name eternally. 
167 



[68 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN TO THE HOLY NAME, FOR MATINS 

Jesu Rex Admirabilis 

JESUS, admirable King, 
Whose love did our salvation bring, 
To sing thy praise needs tongue of fire; 
Our joy, our hope, our whole desire. 



o 



When thou art present in the breast, 
It shines with radiance true and blest, 
The world's vain glories fade away, 
And love illumines like the day. 

Our hearts with love thy law controls, 
O Fount of life and Light of souls; 
Thou fill 'st the breast with such pure joy, 
All earthly pleasures pale and cloy. 

How showers thy sweetness from above! 

Let every soul desire thy love; 

Let every bosom burn to feel 

The wondrous joys thy laws reveal. 

To thee, O Lord, our songs we raise; 
Let all our works express thy praise; 
Thee shall our prostrate hearts adore 
In tender love forevermore. 



ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX 1 69 

MORNING HYMN TO JESUS 

Jesu Decus Angelicum 

O JESUS, joy of angel choirs! 
Thy name is all the soul desires; 
Unto the tongue a taste divine 
That soothes like draft of heavenly wine. 

Who tasteth, hungers e'er for thee, 
Who drinketh, thirsts most yearningly, 
Who knoweth, burns with holy fire, 
Thou fount of love, our sole desire. 

Jesus, my best of bliss thou art, 
The hope that cheers my sighing heart; 
With tears of guilt I bow the knee 
And send repenting cries to thee. 

Remain with us, dear Lord, and shine 
Upon our souls with light divine; 
Drive every evil cloud away 
And bring the sweetness of thy day. 

Flower of the Virgin Mother blest, 
The love of every loving breast, 
Honour and praise and blessing be 
To thy sweet name eternally. 



o 



170 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN TO THE SAVIOUR 

yesu Mi Bone, Sentiam 

TENDER Jesus, let me feel 
Thy love with ever growing zeal, 
And by thy presence bring to me 
The power thy glorious truths to see. 

Upon my lonely couch at night 
Thy love shall fill my heart with light; 
In crowded throngs, or all alone 
I'll seek the glory of thy throne. 

As Mary sought thee at the tomb, 
So in the morn to thee I'll come; 
And worship with that warm desire 
Which lights the soul with living fire. 

Upon the ground my tears shall flow, 
Thy wounds shall bow my head in woe; 
While prostrate at thy sacred feet, 
I'll cling to thee in love complete. 

I 'II follow where thy steps have trod, 
And kiss with tears the sacred sod; 
That in thy love my soul shall live, 
That grace and favour thou may'st give. 



THOMAS OF CELANO 

Very little is known of the author of the Dies Irae, 
in many respects, the greatest of all hymns. Even his 
family is wholly unknown. He takes his name from 
Celano, a small town in the Abruzzo Ulteriore. He 
was born probably near the end of the twelfth century 
and died about 1255. 

He was one of the early disciples of St. Francis of 
Assisi, and held the office of Custos in various Fran- 
ciscan houses from 1221 to the time of his death. 

He wrote a biography of St. Francis, which is incor- 
porated in the Acta Sanctorum. 

His famous hymn has been translated into nearly all 
civilized languages, and received no less than 150 Eng- 
lish renderings, and at least 100 German translations. 
Scott has made an imitation of a part of it in the Lay of 
the Last Minstrel, and Goethe in Faust has made use 
of several lines. 

It has been very popular with the musicians. It is 
one of the few poems, which, like music, conveys to 
the hearer who is ignorant of the language, a general 
idea of its meaning. 

It has a prominent place among the seven great 
hymns of the mediaeval church. 



171 



THE LAST JUDGMENT 
Dies Irae 

DAY of ire, that direful day! 
Earth in fire shall pass away, 
As both saint and Sibyl say. 

How the guilty world shall quake, 
When the Judge his seat shall take, 
Sentence swift and sure to make. 

Then the trump with wondrous tone, 
Sounding through the graveyards lone, 
All shall force before the throne. 

Death and nature, wondering, see 
How the dead, arising, flee 
Swift to hear the dread decree. 

Forth the written book is brought, 
Bearing every deed and thought, 
Whence reward and doom are sought. 

So before the Judge full plain 
Shall appear each hidden stain; 
Unavenged shall nought remain. 

m 



174 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

What shall be my woful plaint ? 
Whither seek a saving saint, 
When the just with fear are faint ? 

King of mighty majesty, 
Saving free who saved would be, 
Fount of pity, save thou me. 

Jesus, think of me, I pray, 

Me, who caused thy crucial way, 

Lest thou lose me on that day. 

Seeking me in wearing pain, 
Sorrows sharing, thou wert slain, — 
Be such labours not in vain. 

Righteous and avenging King, 
Of my sins remission bring, 
Ere the day of reckoning. 

Bowed in grief upon the sod, 
Flushed with guilt, I feel the rod, — 
Spare thy supplicant, O God. 

Who from sin didst Mary free, 
And the thief upon the tree, 
Thou hast given hope to me. 

Without worth are prayers of mine; 
Turn to me thy face divine, 
Lest in endless fire I pine. 



THOMAS OF CELANO 1 75 

Give me grace, O God, to stand 
With the sheep on thy right hand, 
Guarded from the cursed band. 

When the wicked in defeat, 

Fast in flames thy judgment meet, 

Call me home with blessings sweet. 

Humbled down to earth in prayer, 
With a contrite heart, I dare 
Beg, O Father, for thy care. 

Day of weeping, day of sighs, 
When from ruin shall arise 
Guilty man, with soul laid bare, 
Spare him, Lord, in mercy spare! 
Gentle Jesus, with the blest 
Grant the faithful endless rest. 



ST. BONAVENTURE 

The great light and ornament of the Order of St. 
Francis, and known to the Church as the Seraphic 
Doctor, St. Bonaventure was born at Bagnarea in Tus- 
cany in the year 1221. He was given the name of John 
in baptism, but received the name Bonaventure by rea- 
son of his recovery from a severe and dangerous illness, 
which recovery his mother believed to be due to the 
intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. The great saint, 
seeing the child raised from his sickness, and seeming 
to have a prophetic vision of his future greatness, cried 
out in rapture, "O buona ventura," O happy chance. 

The devout mother in gratitude consecrated the child 
to God, and always afterward he bore the name of 
Bonaventure. 

When twenty-two years of age he entered the order 
of St. Francis at Rome. He studied at Paris under 
famous teachers, and soon became a masterful proficient 
in scholastic philosophy and in the most sublime parts 
of theology. St. Thomas Aquinas is said to have visited 
him one day and asked him in what books he had 
learned his sacred science. St. Bonaventure pointed to 
his crucifix and said: "This is the source of all my 
knowledge. I study only Jesus Christ and him 
crucified. " 

He became general of the order of St. Francis in 1256, 
although he accepted the office with great fear and reluct- 

177 



I78 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

ance. At the time of his election there was consider- 
able division of sentiment among the friars of the order 
on the question of discipline. As soon as the young 
general appeared among them all trouble at once van- 
ished and a wonderful condition of peace and charity 
grew up in the order. 

He was taken ill at the Council of Lyons, and died 
in that city July 14, 1274, in the fifty-third year of his 
age. 



THE PASSION OF OUR LORD 

In Passione Domini 

LORD, thy death upon the tree 
Brings uplifting thoughts to me, 
Calm of mind and holy fire, 
Love of God and pure desire. 

O to bear in memory 
All thy grief and obloquy, 
Holy Christ, thy thorny wreath, 
Spear and nails and crucial death! 

All these blessed wounds of thine, 
Witness of thy love divine, 
Cruel scourging and distress, 
O the mortal bitterness! 

Lord, the thought is of such dole, 
So intoxicates the soul, 
That we bow in tearful prayers; 
But what glorious fruit it bears! 

Low, before thee, Crucified, 
Sink all selfishness and pride; 
Loud to thee, dear Christ, we cry; 
Join us with thy saints on high. 
179 



l8o EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Honour, praise and glory bring 
Unto Jesus, heavenly King, 
Who, all pure and faultless, gave 
His sweet life our lives to save. 



ON THE HOLY CROSS 

Recordare Sanctae Crucis 

WOULD'ST thou dwell in joy abounding, 
All thy life with light surrounding, 
Make the cross thy constant care; 
On the rood of thy Redeemer 
Be thy soul an ardent dreamer, 
Bear it with thee everywhere. 

Be thou toiling, be thou sleeping, 
Be thou smiling, be thou weeping, 

Deep in grief or ecstasy; 
Be thou coming, be thou going, 
Pale with pain, with pleasure glowing, 

Let the cross thy comrade be. 

Every sin and every sorrow, 
Every ill that life can borrow, 

In the cross will gain surcease; 
In the cross, though sore and grieving, 
He that humbly seeks relieving, 

Findeth refuge, findeth peace. 



ST. BONAVENTURE l8l 

'Tis the open door of heaven, 
Whence the streaming light was given 

To the Saints to conquer shame; 
'Tis the world's eternal healing, 
Whence the Lord, his mercies dealing, 

Worketh wonders to his name. 

Health of souls, salvation's portal, 
Guiding light to bliss immortal, 

Charm to soothe the hardened heart; 
Life of saints in benediction, 
Treasure house of all perfection, 

Fraught with living joy thou art. 

Virtue's glass and manhood's mirror, 
Leader guiding souls from error, 

Hope of all who hold the faith; 
To the bold in Christ a glory, 
As the symbol and the story. 

Of their war on sin and death. 

'Tis the tree of holy seeming 

Through the blood of Christ, and teeming 

With that fruit, the food of might, 
Which to struggling souls has given 
Strength to climb the hills of Heaven, 

Out of darkness into light. 

Saviour, on the cross extended, 
Be my soul with grace amended, 



1 82 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Evermore to mourn thy pain; 
Feel the tortures that efface thee, 
And with prostrate soul embrace thee, 

On the cross where thou art slain. 



ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 

St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Dominican, known 
in the Church as the Angelic Doctor, was born of a royal 
family, at Belcastro, the seat of his father, Landulf, 
Count of Aquino, in the kingdom of Naples, near the 
end of 1226. 

He received his elementary education at the Mon- 
astery of Casino, after which he spent six years at the 
University of Naples, leaving that institution in his 
sixteenth year. Thomas was the admiration of his 
whole family. It is said that the serenity of his counte- 
nance, the constant evenness of his temper, his modesty 
and sweetness made him remarkable among the youths 
of his time. 

He learned rhetoric under Peter Martin, and philos- 
ophy under Peter of Hibernia, one of the most learned 
men of his age. His progress in these studies was so 
remarkable that he repeated the lessons, which were 
then given in the form of lectures, more clearly than the 
masters had explained them. 

The order founded by St. Dominic, who had then 
but recently died, abounded with men of great spiritual 
force. Thomas became seized with an ardent desire 
to join the order. But his family bitterly opposed his 
choice of a profession, and even persecuted the young 
man for about two years. He was finally allowed, hov* 

183 



184 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

ever, through the influence of Pope Innocent IV., to as- 
sume the habit. The general of the order, John the 
Teutonic, took the saint to Paris and then to Cologne 
where Albertus Magnus, the most famous teacher of 
his age, lectured on philosophy and theology. 

Thomas soon became the most illustrious teacher of 
his order. Pope Urban IV. in 1261 called him to Rome, 
and he was appointed to teach in that city. The Pope 
pressed him to accept an archbishopric, but Thomas 
declined the appointment. 

While in Rome he compiled, at the request of Urban, 
the office of the Blessed Sacrament, which the church 
uses to the present day on the feast and during the Octave 
of Corpus Christi. The following hymns were written 
for that purpose. The hymn "Adoro Te Devote,'' 
and "O Esca Viatorum," are used chiefly for private 
devotions. The two final stanzas of each of the first 
two hymns are now used as separate hymns at the 
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. 

He died while on his way to attend the Council of 
Lyons, March 7, 1274, and was canonized by Pope 
John XXII. in 1323. 



HYMN FOR THE BLESSED SACRAMENT 

Verbum Super num. Prod tens 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

THE word at God's right hand came forth, 
And shining still as God on high, 
Descended to the gloom of earth, 

For man's redemption doomed to die. 

Betrayed by one he loved, and led 

To cruel death at treason's hand, 
Upon that latest eve, he fed 

With his own flesh the chosen band. 

He giveth in its twofold kind 

The saving flesh, the cleansing blood, 

That every man his love may find, 
And fill his soul with heavenly food. 

Born man, he makes himself our kin, 

He gives his body at the board, 
He dies and is the price of sin, 

He reigns, and is our sweet reward. 

O Fount of Life! O Saving Host, 

That heaven's high door hast open laid, 

War presses hard, our hope is lost 

Without thy strength and powerful aid. 

'8.5 



1 86 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Omnipotent Triunity, 

To thee be endless glory given; 
Grant us eternal life with thee 

In our sweet fatherland of heaven. 



THE NEW PASCH 

Pange Lingua 

(From the Roman Breriary) 

SING, my tongue, the saving story, 
Earth's redeeming mystery sing; 
Sing the blood, that fount of glory, 

Shed by man's all gracious King, — 
Blessed be the womb that bore thee, 
Thou, that earnest, our hope to bring. 

Given while yet the young creation 
Sang with all the stars of morn, 

Jesus came for our salvation, 
From a stainless virgin born; 

And his closing ordination 

Doth the world with love adorn. 

At the paschal table leaning 
He, beside his chosen band, — 

Words of wonder intervening, 

While he closed the law's command — 

Kept the pasch with newer meaning, 
Gave himself with his own hand. 



ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 1 87 

By his word the bread he breaketh 

To his very flesh he turns; 
In the chalice which he taketh, 

Man the cleansing blood discerns, — 
Faith to loving bosoms maketh 

Clear the mystic truth she learns. 

Let us then this rite of wonder 

With our prostrate souls adore; 
Let each ancient law surrender 

To the Christ forevermore, 
To the Saviour sweet and tender, 

Fount of grace, of love the store. 

To the Father's glory leading, 

Sound the holy jubilee; 
To the Son, our sorrows heeding, 

Sing the love that made us free, 
To the Lord from both proceeding 

Let the selfsame praises be. 



MORNING HYMN FOR CORPUS CHRISTI 

Sacris Solemniis 
(From the Roman Breviary) 

LET joy abound with us on every side, 
The sacred feast proclaiming far and wide; 
Come, let our souls, renewed in love, arise, 
In thought, word, action, purged and purified. 



1 88 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

We celebrate the supper of that night, 

When Christ himself, the Lord of love and light, 

Lamb and unleavened bread, gave to the twelve 
His body, and fulfilled the ancient rite. 

Our souls in joy receive his solemn word, — 
The Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the Lord, 

His body brake and gave to each and all, — 
God's flesh by God's hand given at the Board. 

Thus breaking to the sorrowing ones the bread, 
He took and blessed the chalice, and he said: 

"Take ye the cup and drink; this is my blood, 
That unto man's redemption shall be shed." 

So did the Christ the sacrifice ordain, 
And gave his priests the duty to maintain 

The rite; 'tis theirs alone to take and give 
That love that ever shall with man remain. 

The bread of angels is to man restored; 
All figures end in heaven's sublime reward; 

O wondrous thought! the poor, the weak, the low 
Feast on the body of the living Lord. 

Thou triune Deity, to thee we pray, 
Honoured upon the altar day by day, 

Visit our souls, and by thy holy light 
Lead us to heaven, and be thy paths our way. 



ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 1 89 

HYMN FOR PRIVATE MEDITATION 

Adoro Te Devote 

DEVOUTLY I adore thee, O my Lord, 
Who art concealed in figures at the board; 
To thee my heart bows down in voiceless faith; 
I see thee not, but I believe thy word. 

Sight, touch and taste are easily deceived; 
Thy word alone can safely be believed; 

I grant, O Son of God, whate'er to me 
Thou sayest; in thee have I all faith achieved. 

Upon the cross was thy divinity 
Concealed, nor here thy human form we see, 
Yet I, in faith confessing, seek thee, Lord, 
Like the repentant thief upon the tree. 

I do not ask, as Thomas did, dear Lord, 
To see thy wounds; sufficient is thy word; 

O, fill my soul with firmer faith, that still 
In hope and love with thee it may accord. 

O sweet memorial of the Saviour's death, 

True bread that bring 'st to man the living breath, 

Grant that my soul thy holy law may know, 
And live with thee in everlasting faith. 

A pitying pelican, dear Jesus, be; 

Save by the blood thou sheddest on the tree, 



I Q0 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

My starving soul, — thy precious blood, whereof 
One drop from every crime the world can free. 

Jesus, whom here in figures I behold, 
I hunger for the time to see unrolled 

The veil from thy sweet features; let me be 
Blest with the vision in thy halls of gold. 



HYMN FOR HOLY COMMUNION 

Esc a Viatorum 

OFOOD of life eternal! 
O bread of choirs supernal! 
O manna from on high! 
Fill all that hunger for thee; 
To seekers, who adore thee, 
Thy sweetness ne'er deny. 

We seek thy holy dwelling, 
O fount of love, outwelling 

From Jesus' tender heart; 
Lord, bring thy cup of healing 
To all before thee kneeling; 

Our hope, our life thou art. 

O Jesus, Saviour tender, 
To thee, the Bread, we render 
All reverence and all love; 



ST. THOMAS AQUINAS I9I 

Lord, lead our lives before thee, 
To see thee and adore thee 
In vision clear above. 

SEQUENCE FOR CORPUS CHRISTI 

Lauda Sion 

SING aloud, O Sion, praising 
Christ, thy Royal Shepherd, raising 
Hymns of love and songs of joy; 
Let the music sound forever, 
Never ceasing, tiring never, 

All thy powers of praise employ. 

Lo, the theme of all thanksgiving, 
Vivifying bread and living, 

On the holy altar shown! 
Yea, the selfsame bread of heaven, 
At the sacred supper given 

To the twelve by Christ the Son. 

Sing aloud in song sonorous, 
Sing his praise in swelling chorus, 

Sing in love and sweet accord; 
Men of every race and nation 
Hold the feast of Christ's creation, 

Founded by his holy word. 

Lo, the King upon his table 
Lays a pasch more new and stable, 
Ending every ancient rite; 



I92 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Older laws give place to newer, 
Shadows fly, and worship truer 
Cometh with the wondrous light. 

And to-day, as Christ ordaineth, 
To his memory still remaineth 

Joy, descending from above, 
Still remain for our salvation 
Bread and wine in consecration, 

Making earth a home of love. 

To the faithful Jesus giveth, 

In his love, this truth that liveth, — 

To his blood is changed the wine; 
Bread unto his body turneth; 
Man by living faith discerneth 

All the mystery divine. 

Here, two different species under, 
Hides in signs awaking wonder, 

Christ's best gift, most excellent, — 
From his flesh and blood he giveth 
Food and drink; in each he liveth 

Whole within the sacrament. 

Never by partaking groweth 
Less the gift which he bestoweth, 

Comes to all the sweet reward; 
Whether single or in union, 
Few or thousands at Communion, 

Every soul receives the Lord. 



ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 193 

And the good and bad receive him, 
They who doubt and who believe him; 

But with what a different end! 
To the worthy soul, salvation; 
To the impenitent, damnation, — 

Death to foe and life to friend. 

Though the sacrament ye sever 
Into fragments, fear ye never, 
In each part remaineth ever 

What the whole contained before; 
In the sign alone obtaineth 
Change; but as the Lord ordaineth, 
He, the Signified, remaineth 

Whole and perfect evermore. 

Lo, the bread of angels, bearing 
Strength to souls in sorrow wearing, 
With the sons of mercy sharing, 

Not the unregenerate; 
Food prefigured and foretold in 
Sacred signs and symbols olden, 
Bringing unto man the golden 

Hour of glory consecrate. 

Gentle Jesus, Shepherd tender, 
Bread of life, in mercy render 
Peace, and blessed hope engender; 
Saviour be our sure defender, 
Make us worthy of thy love; 



194 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Thou all-knowing and all-heeding 
Save thy flock with care and feeding: 
Let us follow in thy leading, 
Hear us in our earnest pleading, 
Guide us to the fold above. 



JACOPONE DA TODI 

Jacopone da Todi, or as he is often called Jacopo 
dei Benedetti, was born of a noble family, at Todi in 
Umbria, in the early part of the thirteenth century, and 
died, it is said, at about the age of ninety years, in 1306. 

In his early life he was a humourist and satirist, and 
was not particularly attached to the moral virtues. He 
married a woman said to be noted for her virtue and 
beauty, whose death was caused by the falling of a 
stage at a public show. On removing her garments 
she was found to wear sackcloth next her skin for pen- 
ance. 

Jacopone forsook the world immediately upon the 
death of his wife, and spent the remainder of his long 
life as a Franciscan friar, writing during his spare time 
many spiritual songs and hymns. He is said to have 
been a friend of Dante. Little besides the following 
hymn remains of his work. This hymn has been ascribed 
to others, even Mone and Wackernagle believing that a 
portion of it was written by Pope Innocent III., who 
died in 1216, and that Jacopone only supplemented and 
brought to its present form the more crude production 
of Innocent. 

This hymn is counted among the seven great hymns, 
and deservedly so. But another hymn called the Mater 
Speciosa, which is a mere parody, has also been ranked 

i95 



I96 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

in the same class, and attributed to Jacopone. The 
Mater Speciosa is far from great, and there is no satis- 
factory proof that it is by Jacopone. It is certainly 
entirely unworthy of the author of the Mater Dolorosa, 
which has well been called "the most pathetic of all 
hymns." 



THE SORROWFUL MOTHER 

Stabat Mater Dolorosa 

WAITING by the cross atoning 
Stood the woful mother moaning, 
Tearful near her dying Son; 
Through her gentle soul, unfailing 
In her sympathy and wailing, 
Passed the sword of Simeon. 

Never 'neath such woes another 
Bowed, as did that blessed mother 

Of the sole-born Son and Lord; 
Who while keeping watch unsleeping, 
Tender mother, 'mid her weeping, 

Bore the pangs of her adored. 

Lives there one can see untearful 
Christ's fond mother, in such fearful 

Torments, grieving all alone ? 
Lives there one whose heart with anguish 
Fills not, thus to see her languish, 

Agonizing with her Son. 

For the guilt that doomed his nation 
Saw she Jesus in prostration 

'Neath the scourges meekly bent; 
197 



EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Saw her precious Son forsaken, 
Spurned, defied, in torture shaken, 
While his spirit forth he sent. 

Mother, fount of love and sorrow, 
Grant to me the power to borrow 

Grief, that I may weep with thee; 
Grant that in my burning bosom 
Love for Christ the Lord shall blossom 

As to him shall pleasing be. 

Mother, every wound and tremor 
Of the crucified Redeemer, 

Firmly fasten in my soul; 
Every shame which thou art sharing, 
O, divide with me unsparing, — 

Every pang and pain and dole. 

Grant that I my tears may mingle 
With thine own in sorrow single, 

Weeping with the Crucified; 
Near the Cross beside thee kneeling, 
Fill my soul with love and feeling, 

Worthy in thy love to bide. 

Virgin of all virgins fairest, 

Share with me the pains thou bearest, 

Be thy crushing sorrows mine; 
Be the Saviour's cross my burden, 
Be his bitter grief my guerdon; 

Be my feelings blent with thine. 



JACOPONE DA TODI 1 99 

By his wounds, let me be riven, 
By his cross to rapture driven; 

Be his blood a cleansing fire; 
Be that fire to me extended, 
Virgin, by thy love defended, 

In the dreadful day of ire. 

When my soul shall be upyielded, 
By thy Virgin Mother shielded, 

Saviour, grant the victory; 
When by death my frame is broken, 
Then unto my soul be spoken 

Words of endless peace with thee. 



THOMAS a KEMPIS 

Thomas Hammerchen, the son of a poor peasant, 
was the real name of the author of " The Imitation of 
Christ." He was born in 1380 in the town of Kempen, 
between the Rhine and the Meuse, in the archdiocese of 
Cologne. Hence the name a Kempis. 

He became a monk of the Augustinian Order, and 
devoted his long life, outside of the time spent in his 
religious exercises, to copying manuscripts, writing 
chronicles, biographies, hymns and tracts on monastic 
life. 

"The Imitation of Christ" is his most important work, 
and has made his name familiar to all Christians. It 
has been translated into more languages than any other 
book except the Bible. 

Although Thomas lived in one of the stormiest periods 
in European history, yet nothing of the stir or trouble 
of the outside world appears in his writings. 

We obtain from those writings, however, a life-like 
portrait of the writer, and a vivid picture of convent 
life in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

Thomas was received in the Convent of Mount St. 
Agnes, where his brother John was prior, in 1399; he 
professed the vows in 1407, and was ordained priest in 
1413; became sub-prior in 1425, and died at the age 
of ninety-one years, August 8, 1471. 

201 



MEEKNESS 

Adversa Mundi Tolera 

BE meek, and bear adversity 
In Jesus' sacred name; 
There's danger in prosperity; 
It brings a scorching flame. 

SUFFER WITH HUMILITY 

Quum a Malts Mole starts 

WHEN thou art oppressed with pain, 
Think that 'tis no loss, but gain; 
Suffering with humility 
Yields a shower of good to thee. 

Thou shalt honour thus the Lord, 
Duplicate thine own reward, 
Please the Angel hosts on high, 
And thy neighbours edify. 

LIFE 

Labor Parva est 

SMALL is life's labour; 
Soon comes the close; 
Great the reward is, — 

Endless repose. 
Oft as thou bearest 

With patience the rod 
Thy spirit becometh 
A martyr to God. 
203 



204 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

THE FRUITS OF PATIENCE 

Patiendo Fit Homo 

PATIENCE under suffering 
Will to man these graces bring, — 

A beauty more than of gold, 
A clearness more than of glass, 

A worth that can ne'er be told, 
A rank that no ranks out-class; 

A spirit that riseth light 

O'er every taint of sin; 
A mind to hold with the right 

And Christ's approval win. 

More saintly that man shall grow, 
Better each day to the end; 

Fiercer to Satan, his foe, 

And dearer to Jesus, his friend. 

TRUST IN GOD 

In Domino Semper Spera 

ALWAYS place in God thy trust, 
Will and do 
What's right and true; 
Let thy soul be brave and just; 
Show thy Lord a humble mind; 
Thou shalt thus his favour find; 
Love but few and simple things; 
Simple life much comfort brings. 



CARDINAL SILVIO ANTONIANO 

Born at Rome in 1540, Cardinal Antoniano became 
noted as a theologian and a scholar. 

He died in 1603. The following hymn was inserted 
in the Roman Breviary by order of Pope Urban VIII. 



205 



FOR FEASTS OF HOLY WOMEN 

Fortem Virili Pectore 

WITH manly voice exalt in song 
The saintly woman brave and strong 
Whose noble virtue shineth forth 
In glory through the bounds of earth. 

With soul inflamed by holy fire 
She cast aside all low desire; 
Unsoiled by evil, night and day 
She toiled along her heavenward way. 

By stringent fasts and guarding care 
She tamed the flesh; in constant prayer 
Her spirit soared unto the skies 
And gained the joys of Paradise. 

Dear Jesus, King of wondrous might, 
Our hope art thou, our love and light; 
We ask thy Saint to intercede; 
In mercy hear the prayer and heed. 

To God the Father glory be, 
The same, Lord Jesus, unto thee, 
And to the Spirit equal store 
Of praise and honour evermore. 

207 



CARDINAL ROBERT BELLARMIN 

The author of the following hymns, known usually 
by his Italian name, Roberto Bellarmino, was born at 
Monte Pulciano, near Florence, October 4, 1542, and 
died in Rome, September 17, 1621. He was nephew of 
Pope Marcellus II., and at the age of eighteen years 
entered the Society of Jesus. He was a powerful writer 
and controversialist, and was famous as one of the most 
holy and most learned men of his age. In 1598 he 
was raised to the Cardinalate by Pope Clement VIII. 

In 1601 he became Archbishop of Capua, where he 
administered the affairs of that See, until 1605 when 
he became Librarian of the Vatican. 

The following hymns are taken from the Roman 
Breviary where they were placed by Pope Urban VIII. 



209 



HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MARY 
MAGDALENE 

Pater Superni Luminis 

O FATHER of the light serene, 
Thou lookest on the Magdalene, 
And lo, she burns with holy fire 
While melts her soul with pure desire. 

She runs, her store of ointment sweet 
To pour upon thy blessed feet, 
Bathes them in tears of penance rare, 
And wipes them with her loosened hair. 

Beside the cross of pain she stands, 
She clasps thy tomb with trembling hands, 
Unfrighted by the guard severe; 
For holy love has banished fear. 

So look, O Lord, on us we pray; 
In pity purge our crimes away; 
Into our hearts thy graces pour, 
To be thine own forevermore. 

To God the Father and the Son, 
And Holy Spirit, three in one, 
All praise and love and glory be 
Through time and through eternity. 



212 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF THE ANGEL 
GUARDIAN 

Aeterne Rector Siderum 

MAKER and Lord of wondrous might 
And dweller in the dread Immense, 
Thy power and rule are infinite, 
And infinite thy Providence! 

We come before thee, bowed in tears, 
We seek thy love, our sweet reward; 

Now as the morning light appears, 
Light thou our souls anew, O Lord. 

And be thy angels with us still 

To guide and guard us all the day, 

To hold us subject to thy will, 
And keep the stain of crime away. 

Dear Lord, from out our bosoms tear 
Each thought or dream that leads to sin; 

So may we shun the tempter's snare, 
So learn thy law and dwell therein. 

Keep war and famine from our shore, 
Build up our homes in sunny peace, 

Be ours thy love forevermore, 
Thy tender mercies never cease. 



CARDINAL ROBERT BELLARMIN 213 

To God all praise and glory be, 
Who sends his angel host to guide 

Whom Christ redeemed on Calvary, 
And whom the Spirit sanctified. 



HYMN TO THE ANGEL GUARDIANS 

Custodes Hominum Psallimus 

PRAISE in song those angels holy 
Whom our heavenly Father gave 
As our guides to watch and guard us 
From the cradle to the grave. 

Sore we need their tender service, 

For with fraud the cruel foe 
Strives to lead our souls to ruin 

And to work eternal woe. 

Hover near us, watchful spirits, 

Shield us 'neath the sheltering wing, 

So that neither woe nor danger 

From the tempter's power shall spring. 

Everlasting praise and honour 

To the glorious One in Three 
Whose eternal presence reigneth 

Over heaven and earth and sea. 



URBAN VIII. 

Maffeo Barberini, author of the following hymns, 
was born in Florence of a wealthy family in 1568, and 
died in Rome July 29, 1644. 

He was elected Pope August 6, 1623, after having 
spent many years under Gregory XIV., and Clement 
VIII. , in most important ecclesiastical offices. 

He was a patron of sciences and arts, and left a vol- 
ume of Italian poetry, including seventy sonnets. From 
his knowledge of Greek he was called the "Attic Bee." 

Under his pontificate the Roman Breviary received 
many changes; the ancient hymns were in many cases 
subjected to metrical emendations and new ones in- 
serted. 

The following were first introduced in the revision 
made at that time. 



"5 



s 



HYMNS TO ST. THERESA 
I 

Regis Superni Nuntia 

GOD'S messenger, Theresa, 
Thou leav'st Thy father's home 
To bring mankind to Jesus, 
Or gain sweet Martyrdom. 

But milder death awaits thee, 
And fonder pains are thine, 

God's blessed angel wounds thee 
With fire of love divine. 

Sweet virgin, love's pure victim, 
So fire our souls with love, 

And lead thy trusting people 
Safe to the realms above 

Give glory to the Father, 

The Spirit and the Son, 
One Trinity, one Godhead, 

While endless ages run. 

II 
Haec est Dies 

BEHOLD the blessed morning, 
When, like a snow-white dove, 
Thy soul arose, Theresa, 
To join the choirs above. 
217 



21 8 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The Bridegroom calls: "From Carmel 

Come, sister, unto me, 
Partake the Lamb's high nuptials; — 

Thy crown awaiteth thee." 

O Jesus, tender Bridegroom 

By holy virgin throngs 
Be evermore surrounded, 

Be praised in endless songs. 

HYMN TO ST. ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL 

Domare Cordis Impetus 

^O rule thy heart, Elizabeth, 
To curb all motions vain, 
Seemed better to thy godly soul 
Than as a queen to reign. 

And lo, enthroned among the saints, 

Above the gleaming skies, 
Thou hast received thy rich reward, 

The joys of Paradise. 

Thy reign is with the angel choirs, 

The stars beneath thy feet, 
The Blessed Vision is thy prize 

And heaven thy queenly seat. 

All power unto the Father be, 

All glory to the Son, 
And honour to the Holy Ghost 

While endless ages run. 



T 



URBAN VIII. 219 

HYMNS FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MARTINA 

I 

Martin ae Celebri Plaudite 

YE citizens of Rome, aloud proclaim 
The saintly glory of Martina's name; 
Sing her white love, her pure virginity, 
Her martyrdom for Jesus, — sound her fame. 

The splendours of the world adorned her birth, 
Her life was graced with all the joys of earth, 

Yet all that wealth with lavish hand could give 
Her pure soul spurned as things of little worth. 

The joys and profits of the world she trod 
Beneath her feet, and gave her soul to God; 

Distributing among the poor of Christ 
Her earthly heritage, she walked his road. 

No deed of torture and no cunning word 

Could move her heart from Christ, her loving Lord, 

Till angels came from heaven and led her forth 
To feast with God at his celestial board. 

They cast thee to the beasts, O virgin sweet; 
The savage lion fawned and licked thy feet; 

But man, more savage, slew thee with the sword, 
And thy pure spirit found her heavenly seat. 



220 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

So evermore, thine altar redolent 

With incense, unto thee our prayers are sent, 

For intercession, where thy name shines out 
Among God's chosen ones, an ornament. 

Drive evil from our souls, O triune Lord, 

Who bring 'st thy martyrs to their sweet reward; 

Grant to thy servants peace and that true light 
That leads thy people into sweet accord. 



II 

Tu Natale Solum Protege 

PROTECT thy native soil; to Christian lands 
Gain by thy prayers true peace; hold up our 
hands; 
The sound of arms and raging war suppress; 
Teach us to honour Christ and his commands. 

And virgin martyr, 'neath his banner bring 
Mankind to march, as warriors of the King; 

Thy sacred blood shall be our strength; the foe 
Shall fall beneath that blessed offering. 

O glorious saint, be unto us a tower; 
Honours and votive prayers to thee we pour; 

Accept our love, and through thy gentle aid 
Upon our souls let heavenly blessings shower. 



URBAN VIII. 221 

THE TRANSFIGURATION 

Lux Alma Jesu Menttum 

O JESUS, when thy tender light 
Is in the soul, the world grows bright; 
Then flies the mist of earthly ills, 
And heavenly love the bosom fills. 

What joy thy visits bring to me, 
O Son of God! thy light I see; 
Forevermore with me abide, 
Sweet hope, to carnal sense denied. 

Thou glory of the heavenly home, 
Thou power unfathomable, come, 
And with thy presence from above 
Pour on our souls a flood of love. 

To Jesus who to babes revealed 
His glory, from the proud concealed, 
And to the Sire and Paraclete, 
Forevermore be praises meet. 

HYMN TO ST. JOSEPH 

Te Joseph Celehrent Agmina Coelitum 

r I ^HE hosts of heaven, Joseph, honour thee, 

J- And in thy prayers all Christian choirs resound; 
All chaste among the chaste, thy name shall be 
In holiness renowned. 



222 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

When thou in doubt didst look upon thy bride 

Great with the Holy One of God, behold! 
A blessed angel standing at thy side, 
The heavenly wonder told. 

Thou, as a tender sire didst rule thy Lord, 
Saving by flight his life in early years; 

Found 'st in the temple him whom all adored, 
Mingling thy joy with tears. 

Others are raised by happy death, but thou 
Wert born to wear on earth a crown of grace; 

Comrade of God in life, thou dwellest now 
In marvellous blessedness. 

Most holy Trinity, to us who kneel 

Before thy throne, through Joseph's merits raise 
Our souls unto thy stars, that we may feel 

And fitly sing thy praise. 



TO ST. JOSEPH 

Coelitum Joseph Decus 

O JOSEPH, joy among the saints, and light 
To guide our lives to heaven, thou pillar bright 
Upholding earth, we lift our songs to thee, 
Let them ascend unto thy sacred height. 

The shaper of the skies selected thee 
His stainless virgin's holy spouse to be, 



URBAN VIII. 223 

The Foster Sire of Christ, and minister 
Of that salvation that hath made us free. 

Thou sawest in the manger born thy Lord, 
Of whom the prophets sang, the sacred Word; 
Rejoicing thou beheld 'st with prostrate soul, 
The tender Babe as living God adored. 

The Lord of heaven and earth, the King of Kings, 
Whose will is law that prone obedience brings, 

Whose light the demons fear, whose word they fly, 
Made himself subject to thy questionings. 

All praise unto the heavenly Trinity 

Bringing, bright saint, thine honours unto thee; 

Grant, through thy merits and thy pitying prayers 
That we the joys of blessed life may see. 



MORNING HYMN TO ST. JOSEPH 

Iste Quern Laeti Colimus 

GLAD honours unto thee to-day we bring, 
In holy faith, O Joseph, of thy glory 
And triumph gained, in holy joy we sing, 
And sound thy story. 

O happy saint! O marvellously blest! 

At whose last hour, as watchers, self-appointed, 
The virgin saw thee sinking to thy rest, 

And God's Anointed. 



224 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

And thou didst rise, from clinging flesh unbound, 
In placid sleep, unto the throne eternal, 

Didst take thy flight, and by God's hand wert crowned 
With palms supernal. 

So unto thee, O reigning saint, we pray: 
Assist us in our needs; be thy voice given 

For our salvation; that at last we may 
See thee in heaven. 

We lift our voice in love, we honour thee, 
O heavenly Ruler, crowning with thy glory 

Thy faithful servant; in his praises we 
But sing thy story. 



HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF A CONFESSOR 

Jesu Corona Celsior 

JESUS, crown of heavenly glory, 
Holiest truth on high adored; 
Souls that fearless preach thy story 
Gain from thee a sure reward. 

Hear, O Lord, our meek petition, 

Let our hearts thy mercy find; 
Grant from staining crimes remission, 

Break the galling chains that bind. 

Now the holy morn returning 
Breaks with light the ebon bars, 



URBAN VIII. 225 

When thy saint with bosom burning 
Found his home among the stars. 

He on earth all wealth and pleasure 

Cast in scorn beneath his feet, 
Love of thee his only treasure, 

So he sought the heavenly seat. 

Thee, O Christ, as King confessing, 
Thee he preached, he loved thee well, 

All unworthy hopes suppressing, 
Spurning all the wiles of hell. 

Powerful in thy holy praising, 

All his faith in thee alone, 
All his powers from pride abasing, 

Now he dwells beside thy throne. 

Loving Jesus, mild and tender, 

Be his holy virtue ours, 
And be thou our firm defender 

From all vain and evil powers. 

Glory to the Sire supernal, 

Glory to the sole-born Son, 
And the Paraclete eternal, 

God of ages, three in one. 



HYMNS BY UNKNOWN AUTHORS 

All but the first three of the following selections 
are found in the Roman Breviary, some of them being 
quite modern. Those on the Feast of Our Lady Help 
of Christians, for instance, are as recent as the reign 
of Pope Pius VII. , when they were written and inserted 
in the Breviary on the institution of that feast in honour of 
the Pope's release from imprisonment at Savona under 
Napoleon. 

Two are taken from the poem, "Flos Pudicitiae," a 
thirteenth century manuscript found in the British 
Museum, and written in a variety of metres, two of 
which are here preserved. 

Most of the other hymns are centos, or adaptations of 
older poems. The translations are added to the pres- 
ent volume so as to make it fairly complete. 

The two hymns on the dedication of a church are the 
polished Breviary adaptations of the beautiful and 
famous, but rugged seventh century poem, "Urbs 
Beata Hierusalem," which has become the parent of 
many of the "New Jesusalem," songs of later ages. 



227 



HYMNS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN 

Flos Pudicitiae. A Cento 

FLOWER of white Virginity, 
Chamber bright of clemency, 
We before thy throne rejoice, 
And implore thy favouring voice. 

Tender Virgin, most serene, 
Thee we hail as Heaven's Queen; 
Unto thee, on bended knee, 
Trusting, call for charity. 

Bride of beauty, lily white, 
Chosen by the God of Light, 
Like the sun, the sevenfold grace 
Shineth from thy heavenly face. 

Holy spouse, Eternal Love 

Crowns thee Queen of saints above; 

Mirror of all purity, 

Christ the Son is born of thee. 

Be our hope and refuge sweet, 
Humbly bending at thy feet; 
By thy prayers our bosoms cleanse, 
Bring us tears of penitence. 
229 



230 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Solace grant to all our grief, 
To our pains a sweet relief; 
Purge our souls of guilt and guile, 
Make us worthy of thy smile. 

Flos Pudicitiae. A Cento 

MARY mild, undefiled, 
Help of all the lowly, 
O, despise not our cries, 
Spring of hope most holy. 

Glorified as the Bride, 
Gabriel's Ave warns thee, 

And the Word, Christ the Lord, 
For his birth adorns thee, 

Shine afar, Morning Star, 
Christ, the sunlight, leading; 

Lend thine ear, Mother dear, 
To our prayer and pleading. 

Lift our eyes to the skies, 

Raise our hearts and bring them, 

Through thy might to the light 
Of the heavenly Kingdom. 



T 



Aurora Quae Solem Paris 

HOU mother of the Sun, sweet morn, 
And daughter of his radiance bright, 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 23 1 

Upon this day, when thou wert born 
Thou bring 'st to man serene delight. 

Thee, robed in glory by the Sun, 

The moon and stars revere; for thee, 

High-seated on thy heavenly throne 
They form a crown eternally. 

The choirs of angels sing to thee, 

The throngs of saints before thee fall; 

Christ shrines in his divinity 
The Mother of the Lord of All. 

Thy power is heavenly, Virgin mild; 

The hosts of darkness fly thy face; 
Those arms, where God reposed, a child, 

Can shield our souls and bring us grace. 

Thy heel has crushed the serpent's head, 
His poisonous fang we fear no more; 

The sorrow of the past is dead, 
Thy love we seek, thy aid implore. 

Sweet Virgin, teach our spirits still 
To follow Christ, the Lord of Light, 

Who dwelt with thee, and worked thy will, 
Thy loving Son, the King of Might. 

To God the Sire, all praise and love, 

Like praise and love unto the Son, 
And to the Spirit, Heavenly Dove, 

Through whom the Virgin's crown was won. 



232 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

HYMNS ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH 

Coelestis Urbs Jerusalem 

JERUSALEM, Celestial Home, 
Sweet port of peace divine, 
The stones of which thy walls are laid 

Are souls of saints benign; 
A thousand thousand angels sing 
The glories that are thine. 

Thou art a Queen most beautiful, 

In wedlock sweetly won, 
Dowered with the glory of the Sire, 

The mercies of the Son, — 
Like Christ, thy spouse, thy rule shall be 

Eternal as his throne. 

A crown of pearls is on thy brow, 

Thy gates are opened wide; 
The ages bow before thy throne, 

And hail thee as the Bride, 
That moves mankind to deathless love 

Of Christ the Crucified. 

With many a stroke of shining steel, 

With many a sounding blow, 
The stones were laid and fitted well 

Within thy walls below, 
Till, lo, thy glory evermore 

Above the stars shall glow. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 233 

All praise throughout the bounds of earth, 

To God the Father bring; 
Like praise be sung to Christ the Son, 

Our Lord and Heavenly King, 
And unto God the Paraclete 

The selfsame praise shall ring. 



Alto Ex Olympi Vertice 

FROM Heaven's high dome, the Lord of Love, 
The sole-begotten Son, 
Came down to build his temple fair, 

And be its corner stone; 
He joined it to the stars above, 
Till earth and heaven are one. 

So evermore the holy walls 

Resound with heavenly lays; 
And men unite with angel choirs, 

The Three in One to praise; 
The songs of Sion, loud and sweet, 

With gladsome voice we raise. 

Dread King of Heaven, before thy throne 

We bow and beg thy light; 
Receive thy people's prayers, O Lord, 

Be with us day and night; 
And guide us onward in thy love, 

To thy Celestial height. 



234 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Here shall our voices evermore 
Ascend before thy throne, 

Beseeching thee for gifts we need 
Till earthly days are done; 

Till we shall reach the blessed seats 
Where holy joy is won. 

Then let all earth resound with praise 
To God our heavenly King; 

And to the Christ, his only Son 
The selfsame praises bring; 

So to the Spirit, three in one, 
All earth and heaven shall ring. 



THE PRAYER ON MOUNT OLIVET 

Aspice ut Verbum Patris 

LO, from the Father's flaming throne, 
The ever-living Word, the Son, 
Urged by sweet love and saving grace, 
Comes down to raise our fallen race. 

He looks upon our miseries 

In mercy; all our need he sees; 

He wills our ruin to repair, 

And sues the Sire in prostrate prayer. 

Bowed 'neath the load of sin, he saith, 
"My soul is sorrowful to death; 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 235 

Though fain the cup would I decline, 
Father, thy will be done, not mine." 

The woe of all the world he feels, 
While faint upon the ground he kneels; 
His great heart trembles with the pain, 
Till blood-drops ooze from every vein. 

Swift passes from his soul the storm, 
An angel lifts the prostrate form; 
With strength renewed he goeth forth 
The King and Saviour of the earth. 



Venit e Coelo 

THE Christ, our Saviour comes, behold, 
By prophet and by bard foretold; 
Daughter of Sion weep no more, 
Salvation shines upon thy shore. 

From out the ancient garden came, 
By disobedience, death and shame; 
But from the new come life and light 
Where Jesus prayeth in the night. 

Appeasing God's avenging ire, 

He holdeth back the threatening fire; 

His sacred life delivereth 

To lift our souls from sin and death. 



236 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The snares of hell his hand destroys; 
He calls our souls to heavenly joys, 
The golden gates reopening; 
There reigns our Victim, God and King. 

Praise to the Father, and the same 
To thee, O Christ, whose holy name 
Shall conquer earth; like praise to thee 
Blest Paraclete eternally. 



HYMNS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD 

Moerentes Oculi 

OUR eyes should fall in grief, our tears should flow, 
And from our deepest hearts the groan of woe 
Should rise, when we remember all the pangs 
The Saviour suffered, and the mortal blow. 

Came Judas from the priests, and, armed with staves 
And swords, a cringing multitude of slaves; 

They struck the tender Christ, and mocking cried, 
"Others he saved; see if himself he saves!" 

The savage throng the gentle Saviour brings 
Before the scornful priest's false questionings; 

Delivered to the soldiers, lo, they dare 
Raise impious hands against the King of Kings. 

Ye people, see! the God of earth and skies; 
The cross upon his bleeding shoulder lies, 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 237 

Silent he bears the lictor's cruel blow, 
And never to the jeering crowd replies. 

And walking, lamb-like, to his cruel death, 
Upon his head he wears a thorny wreath; 

The rage of Israel stinging insult brings; 
He bows a sacrifice and suffereth. 

And so he cometh unto Calvary 
And dieth nailed upon the shameful tree, 
He dieth burdened by all human woe, 
And yieldeth his pure life, to make men free. 

Yea, for our miseries the cruel pain 

He bore; to bring new life his life was slain; 

So let his glory ring through earth and heaven, 
Our living God and King of endless reign. 

A spice Injami Deus 

BEHOLD where hangs in cruel infamy 
The God of Ages on the bloody tree, 
Behold his tender hands nailed to the cross, 
He dies in shame, from shame to make us free. 

Lo, like a worker of most wicked deeds, 
Between two thieves he hangs; his body bleeds 

To gratify the rage of Israel; 
His life is spent to cure our cruel needs. 

Ah, pallid grows his face; his head is bowed, 
His eyes are closed upon the scornful crowd, 



238 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

With a loud voice he sends his spirit forth, 
And o'er his body settles death's dark cloud. 

O heart that hears and weeps not, hard as brass 
Thou art; for lo, 'twas all thy sins, alas! 

That brought thy Saviour here, all innocent, 
To cleanse thy guilt, and ope the heavenly pass. 

To thee, Eternal God, all glory be, 
Who gave thyself to die upon the tree, 

By thy all precious blood to wash away 
Our crimes, and lift us evermore with thee. 

Saevo Dolorum Turbine 

WHAT cruel storms of grief and pain 
The gentle Jesus must sustain! 
He bears his cross to Calvary, 
And there they place him on the tree. 

With nails they nail him to the wood, 
Our thorn-crowned King; his holy blood 
O'erflows from every wound; forlorn 
He hangs the sport of spite and scorn. 

He weeps, he prays, aloud he cries, 
And yielding up the ghost, he dies; 
The mother feels the cruel blow, 
Her stainless heart is pierced with woe. 

The rocks are rent, and quakes the earth, 
From out the tombs the dead walk forth; 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 

Dread darkness covers land and main; 
The temple's veil is torn in twain. 

Sun, moon and stars in gloom are hurled, 
The heavens moan, and groans the world; 
O sinful man, in shame arise; 
Behold, for thee the Saviour dies. 

Here with his mother, stand and weep, 
In tears his wounded members steep, 
See, hand and foot and bleeding side, 
And think, for love of man he died! 

Victim of love! lo, thou art slain, 
From sin and shame our souls to gain; 
To wash us in the sacred flood 
Of thy regenerating blood. 

Our peace, our joy, be thou, O Lord, 
Our life, our hope, our sweet reward, 
Our guide, our light upon the way, 
To lead us unto endless day. 



ON THE CROWN OF THORNS 

Exite, Sion Filiae 

O DAUGHTERS of Jerusalem, 
Chaste virgins of the royal throne, 
Go forth and see the diadem 

That Sion weaves for Christ, her Son. 



239 



240 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Behold the blood upon his hair, 
His tender forehead rent and torn, 

The thorny crown that he must wear, 
While death is on his face forlorn. 

O hard and harsh the soil that gave 
So foul a crop of thorns severe; 

More hard and harsh the cruel slave 
That forced them on a head so dear. 

The thorns empurpled by the blood 
More fair than roses grow to be; 

The crown, touched by the sacred flood, 
Becomes a wreath of victory. 

The barbs that rend thee, Christ, to-day 
Are the sharp thorns of human sin; 

O pluck them from our breasts, we pray, 
And plant thy living love therein. 

Legis Figuris Pingitur 

THE crown, O Saviour, that adorns 
Thy head is shadowed in the law; 
Here shines our God among the thorns, 
As in the bush that Moses saw. 

The ark that did the law enclose, 

The sacred table of the bread, 
The altar where the incense rose, 

Were bound with crowns, like Christ's dear head. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 24 1 

But partner of his pains, behold! 

His blood this wreath doth glorify; 
More beautiful than gems and gold, 

More fair than starry crowns on high. 

Praise, honour, power and glory be 

To God the Father and the Son, 
And Holy Paraclete, to thee 

Forever reigning, three in one. 



w 



ON THE SPEAR AND NAILS 

Quaenam Lingua Tibi 
HAT tongue can e'er return to thee, O spear, 



The gratitude we owe thy service dear, 
For thou didst ope the vivifying side 
Of Jesus, whence his church doth first appear. 

Like Eve arising from the side of man, 
While bound in sleep, the Church's life began; 
Hers was the better Adam; pure she sprang 
Out of the side whence blood and water ran. 

And equal thanks, O Nails, to you we owe, 
For in the death of Christ, whose mortal woe 
Ye wrought upon the cross, was blotted out 
In his sweet blood the curse on man below. 

Kind Jesus, whom the powers proclaim on high 
The Prince of Peace and Ruler of the Sky, 



242 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Thy wounds in hand, foot, side, all glorified, 
Reign with the Sire and Spirit eternally. 

Salvete Clavi et Lancea 

HAIL piercing nails, hail cruel spear, 
But late in mean esteem ye stood; 
The flesh of Christ has made you dear, 
The purple of his healing blood. 

Selected by the faithless Jew, 
As instruments of horrid crime, 

The God of love has made of you 
The ministers of grace sublime. 

The tender flesh ye rent, but lo, 

The wounds in side, in hands, in feet, 

Are fountains of his love, whence flow 
Celestial streams of blessings sweet. 

O wounded Saviour, unto thee, 
We bow in love, thy name adore; 

Unto the Sire and Spirit be 

Like praise and glory evermore. 

Tinctam Ergo Christi 



O BLOODSTAINED barbs that Christ endures, 
Turn, turn your torture unto me; 
Heart, hand and foot, the crime is yours, 



Turn, turn your torture unto me; 
hand and foot, the crii 
Be yours the bitter penalty. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 243 

Yea, Jesus, all the fault was mine, 
That caused thy bitter woe and pain; 

Pour on my soul thy blood divine 
And make it whole and pure again. 

So shall my feet ne'er move to sin, 
My hand from every wrong be free, 

So clean my bosom that therein 
No shade of evil thought shall be. 

O, wounded Saviour, unto thee 

We bow in love, thy name adore; 
Unto the Sire and Spirit be 

Like praise and glory evermore. 



ON THE WINDING SHEET 

Gloriam Sacrae Celebremus 

THE glory of the sacred winding-sheet, 
In song and hymn to-day we celebrate, 
That monument of love and mercy sweet, 
In pious memory we cultivate. 

For lo, imprinted plain upon each fold 

The marks of bleeding hands and feet we see; 

Ah, Christ, the Sindon, surely, we behold 
That wrapped thy body taken from the tree. 

And on the stains while gazing we recall 
The cruel griefs the tender Saviour bore, 



244 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

To raise us out of Adam's woful fall — 
His holy death that we in tears adore. 

The cloven side we see, the hands and feet 
By nails of cruel iron pierced and torn, 

And clearly printed on the snowy sheet, 

Pressed on the drooping head, the crown of thorn. 

What eye unstained of tears can these behold ? 

What ear can hear without a rending groan ? 
Let every soul to whom these truths are told 

Fall to the ground in adoration prone. 

Dear Christ, our crimes alone thy torments brought 
Our evil lives took thy sweet life away, 

Our mortal stains thy mortal sorrow wrought 
Our lives are thine, O Lord, — receive thy pay. 

To thee, O Son of God, be power and praise, 

Who didst the world redeem from sin and shame, 

Unto the Father equal glory raise, 
And to the spirit's ever-living flame. 



Mysterium Mirabile 

WONDER of wonders, we behold 
The Christ, the son of God most high! 
We see the winding-sheet enfold 
His prone and awful majesty. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 245 

Robing his form in all our woe, 

From all our woe to set us free, 
The pangs of death to undergo, 

He hangs upon the shameful tree. 

And printed on that winding-sheet 
Which wrapped his body on the bier, 

The marks of bleeding hands and feet, 
The traces of his death appear. 

These are the signs of triumph won, 
Over the world, the grave and hell, 

The trophies of God's warrior Son, 
Our leader, Christ, invincible. 

Under this sign of grace we fight, 

This banner of the holy stains, 
Against the powers of death and night, 

All Satan's wiles and galling chains. 

And casting our old life away, 

We robe our souls in raiment new, 

And following Jesus night and day, 
The glorious hopes of heaven pursue. 

To God the Father glory be, 

The same to Christ his only son, 
And Holy Paraclete, to thee, 

Forever regining three in one. 



246 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Jesu Dulcis Amor Meus 
OVING Jesus, sweet and tender, 



L 



Be my bosom's fond defender, 
Love for love my soul shall render, 
Prostrate at thy holy feet. 

Lo, I see thee naked, wounded, 
By thy trembling friends surrounded, 
Staring on thee, sore astounded, 
Folded in thy winding-sheet. 

Hail, dear head so torn and gory; 
Face, whose roses blanched and hoary, 
So have lost their wondrous glory 
That the angels quake to see. 

Hail, O heart of man's salvation, 
Prone I bow in adoration; 
Hail, meek wound, thou dark carnation 
Bringing healing unto me. 

Holy hands, all perforated 
By the slaves yourselves created; 
Let me ne'er with love be sated, 
Kneeling near the sacred feet. 

To the Father's power supernal 
Love and praise and reign eternal, 
So to Christ, the Coeternal, 
And the living Paraclete. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 247 

OUR LADY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS 

Saepe Dum Christi Populus Cruentis 

OFT when the flock of Christ were driven 
By bloody sword and cruel foe, 
The tender Virgin came from heaven, 
With loving aid to heal their woe. 

So was it in the days of old, 

As many a temple lifted high 
Proclaims; and gifts of richest gold, 

With grateful blessings testify. 

New thanks for help to-day we bring 
To Mary Queen, with gladsome voice; 

In strains of holy joy we sing, 

And all the bounds of earth rejoice. 

O happy hour! O glorious day! 

Behold the Master on the throne! 
The years of fear are passed away, 

The Chair of Faith receives its own. 

Let gentle youths and virgins chaste 

Uplift to heaven rejoicing lays; 
While priests and people proudly haste 

To join in songs of thanks and praise. 

Sweet Virgin, hear us in our need; 
Mother of Christ, thy gifts increase, 



250 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

The newer Adam's blamelessness and love 
Restored unto our souls the heavenly glow. 

The Father sitting on the lofty throne 
Heard the loud cry sent by his bleeding Son; 

And by that cry appeased, and by that blood, 
He opens heaven to every seeking one. 

Washed in this blood, as is a garment white, 
A rosy glory like angelic light, 

The soul assumes, from every foulness free, 
As angel pleasing to the God of might. 

So like an angel take thy holy place, 
Nor swerve nor falter in thy godly race, 

Press onward to the utmost bound; the prize 
Each noble soul attains by God's sweet grace. 

Father of might to thee our orison 

We lift, bought by the blood of thy sole Son; 

Renew us in the spirit's living flame 
That to our souls thy treasures may be won. 

Ira Just a Co rid it or is 

O'ER the world the world's Creator 
Poured in wrath the drowning flood, 
In his justice Noah saving 

From the justice so bestowed; 
Then the earth the loving Saviour 
Bathed in his redeeming blood. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 25 1 

How it rises up in glory, 

Watered by the saving rain; 
Where but thorns before abounded, 

Only roses now remain, 
All the flowers of bitter seeming 

Soothing taste and odour gain. 

And the serpent's power and danger 

Over all the world decline, 
He must lose his fangs of poison 

And his rule on earth resign; 
This our gain, O wounded Saviour, 

This our victory, was thine. 

O the height of heavenly wisdom, 

How beyond our power to see! 
O the sweetness of the Saviour, 

And his tender love for me! 
Lo, he yields his life to save me, 

Pays my bond upon the tree. 

Though our wrongs and our offenses 

For avenging justice cry, 
Christ's all precious blood is present, 

Bringing mercy from on high; 
And those evils that assail us 

Powerless fall and pass us by. 

Tender Saviour, Lord of glory, 

Thee our grateful songs we bring, 
Thee the God of our salvation, 



252 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Thee our author and our King; 
Reigning with the Sire and Spirit, 

Heaven and earth one praise shall sing. 

Salvete Chr'iste Vulnera 

ALL hail ye wounds of Jesus, 
The balm of human woes, 
From you in ruby streamlets 
His blood forever flows. 

There shines no star so radiant, 

No rose is half so rare, 
No orient gem in glory 

With you can e'er compare. 

Through you our heavenly Father 
Brings peace to every mind, 

Sweet refuge where no sorrow 
Can port or entrance find. 

What blows the tender Jesus 

Receives in Pilate's hall! 
How from the scourging lashes 

The precious blood-drops fall! 

They press upon his forehead 
The piercing crown of thorn; 

With nails of cruel iron 

His hands and feet are torn. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 253 

And after life is yielded, 

And forth his spirit goes, 
They wound his tender bosom 

Whence cleansing blood outflows. 

Dear Lord, to full redemption 

Our souls hast thou restored; 
As underneath the wine-press 

Thy healing blood is poured! 

Come, bow before the Saviour, 
Whate'er our crimes have been; 

His blood is our salvation, 
Who bathes therein is clean. 

Praise him, who, with the Father 

Sits throned above the skies; 
The Christ whose blood redeems us, 

Whose spirit sanctifies. 

ON THE SACRED HEART 

Auctor Beate Saeculi 

THOU blessed fount of life and time, 
The world's Redeemer, Judge, and Lord, 
The Father's light and love sublime, 
Thy name, O Christ, be e'er adored. 

Unbounded love did thee constrain 
To robe in clay the living God, 



254 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

As second Adam to regain 

The prize the first had lost by fraud. 

All mercy thou, O Maker mild 

Of earth and sea and starry sky; 
In pity for thy fallen child 

Thou gavest thyself, a lamb, to die. 

The fountain of all-healing love 

From thy deep heart is flowing still, 

A stream of blessings from above, 
And all may drink thereof who will. 

O Sacred Heart, O saving flood! 

What wounds, dear Christ, didst thou endure, 
That man in thy all precious blood 

Might bathe his soul and so be pure! 

Unto the Father and the son, 

And Holy Spirit, one in three, 
Be praise and power and glory won, 

And rule through all eternity. 



Quicumque Cerium Quaeritis 

OYE who seek a sure relief 
From cruel pain or wearing grief, 
Whether the weight of guilt oppress 
Or worldly cares the soul distress, 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 255 

Unto the dear Lord Jesus fly; 
He gave his life lest man should die; 
With loving heart he waits; and lo, 
His heart is never closed to woe. 

To every soul that wills to seek, 
In words of music doth he speak; 
"All ye in labour bowed, and ye 
By sin afflicted, come to me." 
What heart so mild as his, who sought 
Forgiveness for the Jews that bought 
And nailed his body to the tree ? 
O Sacred Heart, remember me! 

O Heart, thou joy of saints in heaven, 
Thou saving hope to mortals given! 
Drawn by those loving words, we claim 
Thy mercy, Lord, and call thy name. 
O cleanse our souls of sin and stain 
In thy redeeming blood, and gain 
For all whose prayers ascend to thee, 
The heavenly gift of purity. 

En, Ut Superb a Criminum 

BEHOLD us, Lord, a savage band, 
How proud of vice, we walk the sod, 
And strike with strong and cruel hand 
The pure and tender heart of God. 

Our countless sins, so base and blind, 
Are glittering spears to thee, dear Lord; 



256 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Our viler passions whet and grind 
The biting edges of the sword. 

From thy torn heart, O Christ, is born 
The church that to thy teaching clings, 

The orient door that doth adorn 

The temple, whence salvation springs. 

And hence eternal graces flow, 

A sevenfold stream, a wondrous flood; 

The fountain is the Lamb, and lo, 

The cleansing wave, his flowing blood. 

Lord, let us ne'er to foul desire 
Return to wound thy sacred heart, 

Kindle our souls with holy fire, 

And keep our wills where'er thou art. 

O Son, O Sire, O Spirit hear, 

And grant the gifts we seek of thee: 

Thy power and glory we revere, 
Thy reign shall live eternally. 



Sum mi Parentis Filio 

OTHOU, the Son of God most High, 
Thou Father of the life to be, 
O Prince of Peace, to thee we cry, 
We bring our song of praise to thee. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 

Thy heart was wounded by the blow 
Ordained of everlasting love; 

Such love among thy flocks below 
Thou kindlest at the fires above. 

Dear Christ in pity for our woe 
Thou didst thyself as victim give, 

The cruel pangs to undergo, * 

To ope thy breast that man might live. 

O sacred fount of love sublime, 
O living spring of waters free, 

O fire to cleanse away all crime, 
O heart aflame with charity. 

Lord, keep us ever in thy heart, 
Thy tender love to feel and know, 

The joys of heaven to us impart, 

When we shall leave these walks below. 

Cor, Area Legem Continens 

O HEART of Jesus, holy Ark 
That holds the later law divine, 
Not as of old, a service dark, 

But mercy, grace, and love benign; 

Thou art indeed the dwelling place 
Of God's mild law and tender might, 

The temple of out-pouring grace 

That radiates all the world with light. 



257 



258 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Eternal mercy willed the blow 

That gave the wounds, O Heart, to thee, 
That man shall ever feel and know 

The love that suffered on the tree. 

For Christ, eternal Priest and Lord, 

Offers his love by holy sign 
Upon the cross and at the board, 

The twofold sacrifice dvine. 

We love thee, Jesus, Lord most high, 
We lift our hearts to thine above, 

And to thy sacred bosom fly, 
That everlasting home of love. 

All praise and power and glory be 
To God the Father and the Son, 

And Holy Spirit unto thee, 
Forever reigning three in one. 



ON THE SEVEN DOLORS 

Quot Undis Lacrimarum 

OTHE woe, the tears, the sighing! 
Greater grief can never be, 
Than assailed the love undying 

Of the Virgin, thus to see, 
In her arms the Saviour lying, 
Torn all bleeding from the tree. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 259 

Bowed in grief his form she presses, 

Bathes his tender breast in tears, 
Moaning, his mild face caresses, 

And where each red wound appears, 
'Mid the storm of anguish, kisses, 

Shaken sore with shuddering fears. 

O'er and o'er the Mother weeping, 

Tender touches doth bestow, 
All the wounded members steeping 

In the tears that fondly flow, 
And her lonesome vigil keeping, 

Bows her head in silent woe. 

Mournful Mother, by thy sorrow. 

Grieving o'er the Crucified, 
Teach our hearts true grief to borrow, 

Let us linger by thy side, 
Feel thy anguish, keen and thorough, 

And in thy sweet love abide. 

Earth and heaven to rapture speeding, 

Join in songs while ages run, 
To the Father's glory leading, 

To the Co-eternal Son, 
To the Lord from both proceeding, 

Everlasting, three in one. 



260 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

Jam Toto Subitus Vesper 

SWIFT from the heavens the stricken daylight flies, 
The gloom of midnight overpowers the skies, 
The God of life, 'mid infamy and shame, 
A culprit on the cross forsaken dies. 

And thou art present, bending on thy knee, 
Mother of Christ; thou seest the agony, 

Thou hear'st the groan that sends the spirit forth, 
Where hangs thy Son, upon the bloody tree. 

Ah, bowed in grief thou gazest on thy God, 
Bleeding from piercing thorns and scourging rod; 
The thorns that pierce his body pierce thy soul 
And bring the streaming tears that steep the sod. 

Dear heart of Christ, thy tortures were her woe, 
The jeer, the lash, the insult and the blow, 

The thirst, the gall, the thorns, the nails, the blood, 
The fiercest torment tyrant could bestow. 

O Martyr mother, waiting at his side 
And weeping o'er that Son, the Crucified; 

Martyr indeed, to see him die, yet live 
And suffer all the pangs wherewith he died! 

Honour and power and everlasting praise 
To thee, O glorious Trinity we raise; 

And sorrowing Mother, powerful in thy pain, 
Be man's protectress to the end of days. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 26 1 

Summae Deus Clementiae 

GOD of majestic clemency, 
Let it be ours to feel and know 
The wounds of Christ upon the tree, 
And Mary's sevenfold woe. 

Lord, by thy mother's holy tears 

Uplift our souls to thy sweet day; 
Let them suffice to calm our fears, 

And wash our sins away. 

The Saviour's wounds and Mary's woe, 
Shall fill our hearts with holy love; 

O let them be our grief below, 
Our endless joy above. 

Jesus to thee be glory meet, 

Who wert for our salvation slain, 
So to the Sire and Paraclete 

Be praise and endless reign. 



ON THE MATERNITY OF THE BLESSED 
VIRGIN 

Te Mater Alma Nu minis 

SWEET mother of the Lord most high, 
To thee we bow in humble prayer, 
To thee from evil powers we fly; 
O shield and keep us in thy care. 



262 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

It was to lift our fallen race 

Above the curse of Adam's crime, 

The King bestowed on thee all grace 
And shaped thy motherhood sublime. 

So, Mother unto thee we pray; 

Thou seest our need; thy Son entreat 
That he, his anger turned away, 

May raise our souls in mercy sweet. 

All glory, Jesus, unto thee, 

Born of the Virgin void of stain; 

The same to Sire and Spirit be 

Proclaimed through one eternal reign. 

Coelo Redemptor Praetulit 

THE world's Redeemer from the earth 
Up-bore the Virgin to the sky, 
The stainless womb that gave him birth, 
And throned her as the Queen on high. 

In that white breast that knew no stain 
Salvation's hope was robed in clay, 

The Christ that on the cross was slain, 
Whose blood has washed our sins away. 

Let joy and hope to man be won, 
And drive away all anxious fears 

For Mary to her pitying Son 

Will sweetly bear our prayers and tears. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 263 

The mother's words her tender Child 

Will heed and each entreaty bless; 
Revere and love that mother mild, 

And seek her aid in all distress. 

Thou triune God, all praise to thee, 

That to the stainless bosom bore 
The virginal maternity; 

We sing thy glory evermore. 



ON THE PURITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 

Praeclara Custos Virginum 

OF virgin souls the holy guide, 
Chaste mother of the Love benign, 
Thou gate of Heaven that openest wide, 
Be still our hope, our joy divine. 

Among the thorns the lily clings, 

More white and fair than whitest dove, 

The rod from Jesse's root that springs, 
For every wound a balm of love. 

Thou art a tower too high for stain, 
A star to guide the ship-wrecked soul; 

O shield us from the vile and vain, 
And lead us to our heavenly goal. 

By thy sweet prayers all shades dispel, 
Remove the sands of guile and wrath; 



264 EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS 

All fears allay and doubtings quell, 
And for our footsteps find a path. 

To Jesus be all power and praise, 
Born of the Virgin void of stain; 

And to the Sire and Spirit raise 

Like glory through an endless reign. 



O Stella Jacob 

OSTAR of Jacob, golden light, 
Even like the sun thy ray divine; 
Among the heavens where all is bright 
There is no purer ray than thine. 

To thee the white-robed angels sing, 
Who stands beside the royal seat, 

To thee the choirs of virgins bring, 

Their songs and psalms and praises sweet. 

The privet and the lily white 

Are placed upon thine altars blest, 

But whiter than these flowers of light 
The virgin whiteness of thy breast. 

All earth shall lift its voice and sing 
The songs the angels sing to thee; 

Our voices to the stars shall ring 
And laud thy virgin purity. 



HYMNS OF UNKNOWN AUTHORS 265 

Jesus to thee be glory meet, 

Born of the Virgin void of stain, 
So to the Sire and Paraclete 

All praise and power and endless reign. 



INDEX TO LATIN TITLES 



INDEX TO LATIN TITLES 





PAGE 




PAGE 


Ad Coeli Clara 


5 


Coelo Redemptor Praetulit 


262 


Ad Regias Agni Dapes 


3 2 


Consors Paterni Luminis 


43 


Adoro Te Devote 


189 


Cor Area Legem 


*57 


Adversa Mundi Tolera 


203 


Creator Alme Siderum 


26 


Aeterna Christi Munera 


Si 


Crudelis Herodes Deum 


68 


Aeterne Coeli Gloria 


39 


Crux Bene dicta Nitet 


77 


Aeterne Rector Siderum 


212 


Custodes Hominum Psallimus 


2I 3 


Aeterne Rerum Conditor 


5 2 






Aeterne Rex Altissime 


33 


Decora Lux Aeternitatis 


73 


Ales Diei Nuntius 


60 


Deus Creator Omnium 


45 


Alma Redemptoris Mater 


?53 


Deus Pater Ingenite 


8 


Alto Ex Olympi Vertice 


233 


Deus Tuorum Militum 


2 3 


Antra Deserti 


116 


Dies Irae Dies Ilia 


173 


A Solis Ortus Cardine 


67 


Domare Cordis Impetus 


218 


Aspice Infami Deus 


237 






Aspice Ut Verbum 


234 






Auctor Beate Saeculi 


2 53 


Ecce Jam Noctis 


105 


Audi, Benigne Conditor 


97 


Ecce Jam Noctis 


106 


Audit Tyrannus Anxius 


58 


En Clara Vox 


28 


Aurora Coelum Purpurat 


19 


En Ut Superb a Criminum 


2 55 


Aurora Jam Spargit 


40 


Exite Sion Filiae 


239 


Aurora Quae Solem 


230 


Ex More Docti Mystico 


100 


Ave Maris Stella 


78 


Exultet Orbis Gaudiis 


134 


Ave Regina Coelorum 


*SS 










Felix Per Omnes Festum 


121 


Beata Nobis Gaudia 


6 


Festivis Resonent Compita 


249 






Flos Pudicitiae 


229 


Cantemus Cuncti 


141 


Flos Pudicitiae 


230 


Christe, Sanctorum Decus 


133 


Fortem Virili Pectore 


207 


Coelestis Urbs Jerusalem 


232 






Coeli Deus Sanctissime 


93 


Gloria Laus et Honor 


i*5 


Coelitum Joseph Decus 


222 


Gloriam Sacrae Celebremus 


H3 



269 



270 



INDEX TO LATIN TITLES 



Haec Est Dies 

Hominis Superne Conditor 

Immense Coeli Conditor 
In Domino Semper Spera 
In Passione Domini 
Invicte Martyr Unicum 
Ira Justa Conditoris 
ste Confessor Domini 
ste Quern Laeti Colimus 

am Christus Astra Ascenderat 
am Lucis Orto Sidere 
am Meta Noctis Transiit 
am Meta Noctis Transiit 
am Sol Recedit Igneus 
am Toto Subitus Vesper 
esu Corona Celsior 
esu Corona Virginum 
esu Decus Angelicum 
esu Dulcis Amor Meus 
esu Dulcis Memoria 
esu Mi Bone Sentiam 
esu Nostra Redemptio 
esu Redemptor Omnium 
esu Redemptor Omnium 
esu Rex Admirabilis 

Labor Parva Est 
Lauda Sion 
Legis Figuris Pingitur 
Lucis Creator Optime 
Lucis Largitor Splendide 
Lux Alma Jesu Mentium 
Lux Ecce Surgit Aurea 



Magnae Deus Potentiae 
Martinae Celebri Plaudite 



"AGE 




PAGE 


217 


Martyris Ecce Dies Agathae 


«5 


95 


Moerentes Oculi 


236 




Mysterium Mirabile 


244 


92 






204 


Nocte Surgentes 


104 


179 


Nocte Surgentes 


i°5 


24 


Nox Atra Rerum 


3 1 


250 


Nox et Tenebrae et Nubilae 


62 


136 


Nunc Sancte Nobis Spiritus 


47 


223 








O Esca Viatorum 


190 


36 


O Gloriosa Virginum 


81 


2 5 


O Nimis Felix 


117 


10 


O Quanta Qualia 


J 59 


11 


O Quanta Qualia 


161 


48 


O Quot Undis Lacrimarum 


258 


260 


O Sola Magnarum Urbium 


57 


224 


O Sol Salutis Intimis 


96 


42 


O Stella Jacob 


264 


169 






246 


Pange Lingua 


83 


167 


Pange Lingua 


186 


170 


Paschale Mundo Gaudium 


21 


35 


Pater Superni Luminis 


211 


29 


Patiendo Fit Homo 


204 


*35 


Placare Christe Servulis 


129 


168 


Praeclara Custos Virginum 


263 




Primo Die Quo Trinitas 


103 


203 






191 


Quaenam Lingua Tibi 


241 


240 


Quern Terra Pontus Sidera 


80 


9 1 


Quicumque Certum Quaeritis 


254 


9 


Quicumque Christum Quaeritis 


61 


221 


Quum a Malis Molestaris 


203 


63 








Record are Sancte Crucis 


180 


94 


Rector Potens Verax Deus 


47 


219 


Regis Superni Nuntia 


217 



INDEX TO LATIN TITLES 



271 





PAGE 




PAGE 


Rerum Creator Optime 


99 


Summi Parentis Unice 


H5 


Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor 


43 






Rex Deus Immensi 


m 


Te Joseph Celebrent 


221 


Rex Gloriose Martyrum 


5° 


Telluris Alme Conditor 


92 


Rex Sempiterne Coelitum 


22 


Te Lucis Ante Terminum 


41 






Te Mater Alma Numinis 


261 


Sacris Solemniis 


187 


Te Redemptoris 


248 


Saepe Dum Christe 


247 


Te Splendor et Virtus Patris 


132 


Saevo Dolorum Turbine 


238 


Tibi Christe Splendor Patris 


^ 


Salutis Aeterne Dator 


130 


Tinctam Ergo Christi 


242 


Salutis Humanae Sator 


35 


Tristes Erant Apostoli 


20 


Salvator Mundi Domine 


98 


Tu Natale Solum Protege 


220 


Salve Regina 


J 53 


Tu Trinitatis Unitas 


IOI 


Salvete Christe Vulnera 


252 






Salvete Clavi et Lancea 


242 


Ut Queant Laxis 


"5 


Salvete Flores Martyrum 


59 






Somno Refectis Artubus 


27 


Veni Creator Spiritus 


107 


Splendor Paternae Gloriae 


37 


Veni Sancte Spiritus 


149 


Stab at Mater Dolorosa 


197 


Venit e Coelo 


235 


Summae Deus Clementiae 


261 


Verbum Supernum Prodiens 


49 


Summae Parens Clementiae 


44 


Verbum Supernum Prodiens 


185 


Summi Parentis Filio 


256 


Vexilla Regis 


82 



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